The Clinton Foundation shook supermodel Petra Nemcova’s charity for a $500,000 donation before Bill Clinton agreed to speak at its annual fund-raiser last year, it was reported Friday.
He got a “lifetime achievement award” at the Happy Hearts Fund’s June 2014 gala at Cipriani 42nd Street.
Sue Veres Royal, former director of Happy Hearts, told The New York Times that the ex-president’s appearance was the result of a “quid pro quo.”
The Clinton Foundation rejected invites “until there was a thinly veiled solicitation and then the offer of an honorarium,” she said.
“The Clinton Foundation had rejected the Happy Hearts Fund invitation more than once, until there was a thinly veiled solicitation and then the offer of an honorarium,” she said.
“Petra called me and said we have to include an honorarium for him — that they don’t look at these things unless money is offered, and it has to be $500,000.”
Both groups denied any quid pro quo, with a Happy Hearts rep saying they have a shared goal of providing meaningful help to Haiti.” a Happy Hearts spokeswoman told the Times. “We believe that we can create the most impactful change by working together.”
The Clinton Foundation insisted the donation was “offered, not solicited.”
A survivor of 2004’s tsunami in Thailand, Nemcova founded Happy Hearts to rebuild schools in areas hit by natural disasters. Her charity has built 114 schools in nine countries serving more than 50,000 students.