Lawmakers question Clinton donor’s top intelligence board post

WASHINGTON—Newly released emails show that while Hillary Clinton was secretary of state she selected one of her major political donors, who had no ostensible security experience, to serve on a top State Department intelligence board.

In July 2011, Clinton appointed Rajiv Fernando to the International Security Advisory Board (ISAB), which included top-level security experts, foreign policy advisers, former military generals, and cabinet secretaries. At the time, Fernando ran a Chicago-based securities trading firm and had no obvious qualifications to advise the State Department on international security. Fernando is, however, a prominent political benefactor—donating almost $10,000 to Clinton’s 2008 White House bid and between $1 million and $5 million to the Clinton Foundation.

His selection to serve on a sensitive intelligence panel didn’t go unnoticed.

Several ISAB members questioned the appointment, prompting a series of emails requesting his background and security experience. ABC News caught wind of the inquiries and contacted the State Department in August 2011, seeking a copy of Fernando’s resume.

State Department staff hesitated to provide a justification for granting Fernando a seat on the panel, which came with top-secret security clearance. Fernando resigned from the board within four days of receiving media requests about it, claiming his businesses needed more of his attention.

But his appointment resurfaced last week when an email chain went public and verified Clinton’s office personally added Fernando to the panel. Citizens United, a conservative political group, filed a Freedom of Information Act request for the emails and fought the government for more than two years to get the correspondence.

Fernando, 44, has bachelor degrees in history and economics and specializes in computer-generated stock trading. At the time of his appointment to the board, he was the head of Chopper Trading, a lucrative firm he founded in 2002. Fernando’s business success enabled him to contribute hundreds of thousands of dollars at a time to the Clinton Foundation. And when Clinton first ran for president in 2008, he gave maximum contributions to her campaign.

But nothing on his resume suggested he had the experience to advise Clinton on the use of tactical nuclear weapons, nonproliferation, and other arms control issues.

“When you look at who was on that board, he stuck out like a sore thumb,” said Frank Gaffney, president of the Center for Security Policy. “On the board right now there are two former department of energy people, there is a former CIA director, a former Iraq weapons inspector—basically these are people who really know arms control—that’s why Fernando’s appointment was so puzzling.”

The newly released emails show Fernando was not originally on the list of board members, but Cheryl Mills, Clinton’s chief of staff at the time, later included him.

After Fernando resigned, the State Department released a statement explaining his placement on the board, claiming he brought a unique perspective: “He has years of experience in the private sector in implementing sophisticated risk management tools, information technology, and international finance.”

Upon seeing the emails, Rep. Ed Royce, R-Calif., chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, wrote the State Department a letter asking for clarification on the qualifications board appointees must have and how the department chose someone with no experience.

Because of the issues they deal with, board members should distinguish themselves in fields like physics, chemistry, mathematics, biology, or engineering, including weapons engineering, Royce said.

“Most board members have had previous high levels of relevant government, military, and academic service, reflective of the seriousness of these issues,” he noted. “Needless to say, this episode casts doubt on the credibility of the board.”

Gaffney told me it’s not uncommon for big political donors to receive appointments once their candidate assumes office, usually in inconsequential positions.

“But not a board like this,” he said. “This is supposed to be a board of experts.”