The Clinton Foundation to accept donations from just six countries amid concerns over foreign money

It is illegal in the US for overseas governments, individuals or companies to donate funds to presidential candidates

(Getty Images)

The Clinton Foundation will henceforth accept funding from a limited roster of just six countries, including Britain, amid concerns that foreign donations may create conflict with Hillary Clinton running for president. It is also to scrap future overseas conferences beginning in June.

Mrs Clinton, who resigned from the board of the foundation that was set up by her husband, Bill Clinton, after he left office, has been battered by questions about cash contributions from foreign governments that critics claimed were meant to curry favour with her as she prepared to see the White House.

The board said the six countries had all given donations before. As well as Britain, they are Canada, Norway, Australia, Germany and the Netherlands, all close allies of the United States already. But other nations that have given in the past not on the list include Oman and Saudi Arabia. It is illegal in the US for overseas governments, individuals or companies to donate funds to presidential candidates.

In the first days of her campaign, Mrs Clinton has made a strenuous effort to reinvent herself, including distancing herself from her Wall Street supporters by contrasting the earnings of ordinary Americans with hedge fund managers. “There’s something wrong when hedge fund managers pay lower taxes than nurses or the truckers I saw on I-80 when I was driving here over the last two days,” she said in Iowa.

Insulating herself from criticism about foreign funding of the foundation has also proved urgent. In a statement, officials said it would also start issuing quarterly reports on where its funds are coming from.

“While it’s common for global charities to receive international support, it’s rare to find an organization as transparent as the Clinton Foundation,” foundation spokesman Craig Minassian said. “Our current policy already goes above and beyond what’s required by voluntarily disclosing our more than 300,000 donors on our website for anyone to see.”