¢linton ¢a$h: Sudan

This is part 3 of our continuing investigation into Peter Schweizer's anti-Clinton film Clinton Cash.  Today we examine a really tenuous accusation Schweizer made that Hillary abused her power to help a friend get a government contract in the Sudan.

Generally speaking, Schweizer alleges that there's a pattern of the Clintons --- mostly Hillary, as Bill has not held any formal government position in nearly 16 years:

1. Facilitate lucrative business contracts between foreign governments and those wishing to do business in those foreign countries,
2. In return for large contributions either directly to Bill or to the charitable organization the Clintons founded, the Clinton Fund.

But when it comes to the Sudan, Schweizer fails to provide proof that either (1) or (2) occurred, so I'm not entirely certain what his point is.

Anyway, Schweizer's allegation in the Sudan involves former U.S. diplomat Joe Wilson (yes, that Joe Wilson).  This is the whole of Schweizer's argument, as best as I can transcribe it:

In 2009, shortly after she became SoS, when Wilson was the vice-chairman of a company called Jarch Capital.  They took out a 50-year lease on 400,000 hectares in south Sudan.  South Sudan was in the middle of a civil war, and this lease was actually signed with warlords who were  involved in the civil war.  These individuals were involved in massive human-rights violations.

Schweizer goes on to suggest that Jarch Capital's lease was somehow unethical.  And maybe it was.  But in order to demonstrate that the Clintons are corrupt in some fashion, Schweizer needs to show that Wilson gave them something to help secure this lease, and he doesn't.  He doesn't even allege that Wilson gave money to the Clintons or their foundation, only that Wilson endorsed Hillary in her 2008 run for president, and that he was under consideration for a post in a Hillary Clinton State Department.

Sorry, but so what?  LOTS of Democrats endorsed Hillary in 2008, and Joe Wilson had already worked for the State Department under the George H. W. Bush administration, so what does this prove?

Schweizer also fails to show that Hillary did anything to help Jarch Capital obtain its lease, which is hardly surprising considering that she couldn't have done anything to help.  Check out this article from the Financial Times, dated January 9, 2009:

Philippe Heilberg, a former Wall Street banker and chairman of New York-based Jarch Capital, told the Financial Times he had gained leasehold rights to 400,000 hectares of land – an area the size of Dubai – by taking a majority stake in a company controlled by the son of Paulino Matip.

Barack Obama was first sworn in to office on January 20, 2009, and Hillary Clinton was confirmed as Secretary of State the next day.  Considering that Jarch Capital had acquired the lease nearly two weeks earlier, how exactly did she abuse her power to help Joe Wilson?  Did she somehow, as a sitting U.S. Senator, pull strings with contacts inside the Bush administration?