Here’s What Donald Trump Gets Right and Wrong About ‘Crooked Hillary’

Trump relies heavily on the 2015 book by conservative writer and Brietbart News Editor Peter Schweizer, Clinton Cash, for his research. Here are the major allegations contained in that book that Trump mentioned in his speech:

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Hillary Clinton doled out favors to Swedish Telecom giant Ericsson after it paid Bill Clinton $750,000 to give a speech in 2011.

Here’s what Trump said:

“A foreign telecom giant faced possible State Department sanctions for providing technology to Iran, and other oppressive regimes. So what did this company do? For the first time ever, they decided to pay Bill Clinton $750,000 for a single speech. The Clintons got their cash, the telecom company escaped sanctions.”

Here’s what Fortune found:

Ericsson (ERIC) did pay Bill Clinton $750,000 while Hillary was Secretary of State, but the assertion that the company faced sanctions isn’t entirely true. Yes, the SEC did send Ericsson a letter in 2010 asking it to explain the nature of its operations in Iran, but Ericsson’s response makes it clear that the business it did in Iran was for commercial rather than for military purposes.

The book is unable to show any evidence that the State Department wanted to quash the business Ericsson was doing in Iran prior to Bill Clinton’s speech. In fact, there is evidence that the Clinton State Department and the rest of the Obama Administration wanted to spread the use of communications technology—like that which Ericsson provides—in Iran, in order to help dissidents combat oppressive governments.

But even if the payment from Ericsson didn’t end up affecting policy (and we can’t say for sure either way), it was probably not a good idea for Bill Clinton to accept money from a company who had business in front of the State Department while his wife was running it.

Photograph by the Sydney Morning Herald Fairfax Media — Getty Images

Hillary Clinton approved the transfer of uranium to a Russian company in return for Clinton Foundation donations

Here’s what Trump said:

“Hillary Clinton’s State Department approved the transfer of 20% of America’s uranium holdings to Russia, while 9 investors in the deal funneled $145 million to the Clinton Foundation.”

Here’s the truth:

In 2010, while Clinton was Secretary of State, the U.S. Committee on Foreign Investment approved the sale of Uranium One, a Canadian Company, to Rosatom, a Russian state-owned enterprise. The reason the feds needed to approve the deal was because Uranium One owned a significant amount of Uranium, which is considered by the U.S. government to be an asset important to national security.

While Clinton, as Secretary of State, sat on the U.S. Committee on Foreign Investment, so do the heads of many other agencies like the attorney general, as well as the secretaries of the Treasury, Defense, Homeland Security, Commerce and Energy. Therefore, the decision to approve this sale cannot be chalked up to Clinton alone. Furthermore, the approval of the sale does not mean that the Russians can remove the uranium from the United States. Without a separate approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, uranium cannot be exported from the United States. This undercuts the insinuation Trump makes that somehow Clinton alone undermined American security interests.

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Hillary Clinton gave a foundation donor top secret access to information.

Here’s what Trump said:

“Hillary Clinton appointed a top donor to a national security board with top secret access – even though he had no national security credentials.”

Here’s the truth:

Trump’s statement is correct. Securities trader and Clinton donor Rajiv K. Fernando was appointed to the International Security Advisory Board, despite his lack of experience in the field, according to a report earlier this year from ABC News.

Photograph by Alain BENAINOUS Gamma-Rapho — Getty Images

Hillary Clinton accepted expensive gifts from governments hostile to American values.

Here’s what Trump said:

“Hillary Clinton accepted $58,000 in jewelry from the government of Brunei when she was Secretary of State—plus millions more for her foundation. The Sultan of Brunei has pushed oppressive Sharia law, including the punishment of death by stoning for being gay. The government of Brunei also stands to be one of the biggest beneficiaries of Hillary’s Trans-Pacific Partnership, which she would absolutely approve if given the chance.”

Here’s the the truth:

It is true that the government of Brunei treats women and LGBT community harshly. But the Clinton State Department and the Obama administration are not the first to maintain relations with foreign governments who social policies Americans generally disagree with. But what makes this truly not credible is that Trump omits the fact that Clinton transferred ownership of the jewelry to the U.S. government, as is custom for U.S. government officials who receive gifts from foreign governments.