We need your help now
Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
By continuing, you are indicating that you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
THE US STATE Department is planning to investigate a controversial arrangement which allowed one of Hillary Clinton’s top aides to work for a US consulting company run by two Irish citizens, including Declan Kelly, the brother of Environment Minister Alan Kelly.
The Inspector General of the State Department (equivalent to the Department of Foreign Affairs), confirmed last week he would examine the use of what’s known as “Special Government Employee” (SGE) status.
It follows two years of controversy surrounding various practices involving Clinton and her staff, during her tenure as Secretary of State from 2009 to 2013.
Background
In 2013, news website Politico revealed that while working at the State department, Huma Abedin, a long-time trusted aide to Clinton, had been consulting for four other entities, including Teneo Holdings, a New York-based firm of which Kelly is CEO.
Teneo, an international strategic consulting firm with strong links to the Clintons, describes itself as “leveraging deep global relationships, experience and intellectual abilities” and being “at the centre of information and networks.”
Two of its three founders are Irish.
The revelation that a senior Clinton advisor had been paid an undisclosed amount to consult for the firm provoked concerns about a potential conflict of interest.
Abedin strongly denied this, however, writing that while working for the firm, she “was not asked, nor did [she] provide, insights about the Department, my work with the Secretary, or any government information to which I may have had access.”
Teneo Holdings
Teneo Holdings was founded in 2011 by Declan Kelly from Portroe, Co Tipperary, Paul Keary, and Doug Band, a long-time legal advisor to Bill Clinton, who helped set up the Clinton Global Initiative in 2005.
Michael Madden is Chairman of Teneo Capital and Restructuring, and a managing partner at Ronoc Financial Solutions in Dublin.
Kelly and Madden have addresses in Portroe and New York, while Keary has an address in Loughrea, Co Galway.
Before starting Teneo, Kelly was appointed by Hillary Clinton as US Economic Envoy to Northern Ireland in 2009, when she was US Secretary of State, and was Executive Vice President of FTI, an international consulting firm with a $2 billion market capitalisation.
Paul Keary, Chief Operating Officer (COO) and co-founder of Teneo, also previously held a senior position at FTI, and worked alongside Kelly at FTI predecessor Financial Dynamics.
Bill Clinton was a paid adviser to Teneo until the end of 2011, when he became a “friend and unpaid adviser to Teneo and its founders,” according to a spokesperson.
At that time, Teneo also took on the Clinton Global Initiative as a client.
Federal Election Commission documents show that Kelly, Keary, and Band have donated a combined $146,700 to Democratic party candidates and committees, including $30,700 to those relating to Hillary Clinton, since 2007.
During Clinton’s bid for the presidency in 2007 and 2008, Declan Kelly reportedly organised events in New York (at the home of Gabriel Byrne), San Francisco and Limerick, which raised close to $1 million.
This video shows Kelly introducing Bill Clinton at an awards ceremony in Dublin in 2010.
There is no evidence of any fundraising, donations, or services provided by Teneo executives to the State Department or Hillary Clinton during her time as Secretary of State, or during the period of Abedin’s work for them.
However, the relationship between the company and the Clintons, and in particular Abedin’s consulting work, has been cited by Republicans as a potential point of attack during Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign, which was formally announced last Sunday.
Republican attacks will only get more aggressive as the contest intensifies, as Niall O’Dowd, influential publisher of the Irish Central website in New York, and friend of the Clintons, told TheJournal.ie.
They will throw the kitchen sink at her, and the dresser too. But I’m betting it’s all warmed over conspiracies well past their sell-by date.
Nonetheless, the recent revelation that Hillary Clinton had used the private email server clintonemail.com to conduct official business while Secretary of State, has added fuel to that fire.
It has been reported that Huma Abedin, who is the wife of disgraced former US Congressman Anthony Weiner, also availed of an email address at the Clinton server.
The conservative group Citizens United last month began suing the State Department for failing to respond to Freedom of Information requests for email exchanges between Abedin, Kelly, Keary and Band, among other Clinton aides and Teneo staff.
Republican Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa, chair of the powerful Senate Judiciary Committee, resumed a long-running campaign for transparency on the issue last month, writing:
A number of conflict of interest concerns arise when a government employee is simultaneously being paid by a private company, especially when that company, Teneo, “brings together the disciplines of government and public affairs.”
Moreover, these concerns are heightened when high level employees, such as Ms. Abedin, may have used non-government email accounts to engage in both government and private business.
On Thursday, State Department Inspector General Steve Linick responded to Grassley, stating that his office would be investigating the Special Government Employee program used by Abedin to consult for Teneo.
The purpose of the probe will be “to determine if it conforms to applicable legal and policy requirements, including whether or not the program, as implemented, includes safeguards against conflicts of interest.”
TheJournal.ie requested comment from Declan Kelly and the other co-founders of Teneo Holdings, through the company, as well as from the presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton. Neither responded to those requests.
Take your time Leo sure there’s no rush
I’d love a drink a chat, with a few of my friends. I’am not lonely or anything, just a few pints and a laugh with friends.
Course it will need to be reviewed, the backlash over this has been huge and even the FFG back benches realise, they will find it very hard to get re-elected if they basically go along with the same restrictions and rules as last summer when we didn’t have vaccines and nothing bar a 9 euro meal has changed, meanwhile people will head north or out of the country soon as the digital green cert is in place. Hard to convince people who own or work in hospitality, aviation or the entertainment industry to vote for your party that basically has thrown you under the bus for over a year and still is keeping ya there even with vaccines
Meanwhile nearly all open in NI, walking around masks are extremely lax in shops, a lot of people not wearing in stores and nobody seems to care! Feels nearly like 2019!
@kevinhunt101: they are also a few months ahead of us on vaccinations having opened the 18+. We are still at 44+. Give it time.
@Paul Clancy: Give it time???…they are trying to extend the covid powers till November, they are talking about extending PUP till September and the fact they are flip flopping round reopening aviation and hospitality fully, even when we reach the same time line as Northern Ireland did, tells me things won’t be anywhere near the same. Too many need to realise, its not just a virus we now have to worry about, but also the health of the countries finances, cos another recession is the last place we need to go since we haven’t even paid off the previous one yet.
Musicians and other performers should give themselves two rules
a) creating underground spaces for art
b) stop performing whenever a member of the current government is present… even after the pandemic
There is 0 scientific reason behind outlawing live music for more than a year. Maybe you can gaslight people with indoor reasons but there’s no reason why music can’t be played in an outside setting…
So if you’re sitting a a restaurant eating you can’t be there for more than 105 minutes because you could become a close contact. But if you are sitting in a restaurant attached to a hotel you are staying in that risk doesn’t exist? How on earth does that make sense?!
@Melissa OHara: It doesn’t but none of this government’s decisions have made any sense. Their appalling ineptitude keeps rolling on.
@Melissa OHara: it almost makes one hate hotels
Its a Farce.. all Dining indoor and outdoor should open at the same time.. at least its a level playing field.. scrap all time constraints as the virus has no time limit.. and allow live Music.. what harm is it doing.. look at the sport.. hugging and celebrating with each other and no harm there.. Restrictions are pushing everyone to their limits..open the place up.. Save jobs…!!!
He will probably leak it in a few weeks!
what he means is put in mad rules and see what the baclash is
Neck with two heads
It should be reviewed now, not after the summer
He will probably leak in a few weeks!
Genuine Question, Why are Faite Ireland making the rules now when it previously was Government with NPHET advice
@SandraMeyler: my thoughts exactly. WTF do Failte Ireland know about infectious disease
@SandraMeyler: because apparently our government doesn’t know how to do anything
backlash
Oohh. Can’t wait to get me a substantial meal!!!
The elephant in the room is a drunken cohort who can’t or won’t behave like civilised human beings, even if there was never a pandemic. The drinking time limit is really an attempt to limit the amount of alchol a person can consume on the premises, so that some people won’t become unmanageable. However, although ireland apparently has relatively high booze taxes, and some recent token demarcation gestures per buying booze, it is still to cheap and easy to stock up in supermarkets and neighbourhood shops, and then there’s the irony of drink readily available in petrol stations. …. i wonder how covid19 deaths and long-Covid statistics compare to harm by overloaded livers, domestic violence, streetfights, drunk driving, hungover driving etc. etc.
Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development.
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then these services may not function properly.
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not be able to monitor our performance.
Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers, randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes presented here.
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times an ad is presented to you).
Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit, content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (for example, information from your previous activity on this service and other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities.
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects.
Information about your activity on this service (for instance, forms you submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (such as your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests, such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find content that matches your interests.
Content presented to you on this service can be based on your content personalisation profiles, which can reflect your activity on this or other services (for instance, the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. This can for example be used to adapt the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find (non-advertising) content that matches your interests.
Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of advertising campaigns.
Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g. reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance, whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a product description, how long you spent on this service and the web pages you visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of (non-advertising) content that is shown to you.
Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising) content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents).
Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them.
Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
The choices you make regarding the purposes and entities listed in this notice are saved and made available to those entities in the form of digital signals (such as a string of characters). This is necessary in order to enable both this service and those entities to respect such choices.
have your say