After several business and philanthropy trips with former president Bill Clinton, Giustra started donating to the Clinton Foundation in 2006, three years before Hillary Clinton became Secretary of State in 2009. In 2007, Giustra pledged $100 million to establish the Clinton Giustra Sustainable Growth Initiative to fight world poverty. According to Rick Cohen, national correspondent for
Nonprofit Quarterly, Giustra is a well-known Canadian philanthropist. He received the Dalai Lama Humanitarian Award in 2014 for his work with the Radcliffe Foundation, The Boys Club Network, and for his work with the Clinton Foundation.
Russian investors did not start buying Uranium One stock until 2009, two years after Guistra sold his holdings and started donating to the Clinton Foundation. Russian investors secured 51 percent of the company in 2010 and 100 percent by 2013. Since Uranium One had mining rights in America and Canada, the sale had to be approved by both countries.
Then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton did not have the authority to approve the sale of Uranium One shares to Russian investors. On the American side, that recommendation belonged to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), made up of representatives from nine U.S. departments (The U.S. Trade Representative; Office of Science & Technology; Office of the Attorney General; and the Departments of Commerce, Defense, Energy, Homeland Security, State and Treasury). The vote to approve was unanimous. The sale then had to be approved by the
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and the president. The Canadian government had their own approval process.
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So, no connections between the money and Uranium One.