Clinton: "My Work As Secretary of State Was Not Influenced By Any Outside Forces," No Evidence Of Conflict of Interest

Hillary Clinton is asked if there are any e-mails or Clinton Foundation ties to foreign entities that would reveal a conflict of interest. From Friday's broadcast of MSNBC's <i>Morning Joe</i>: <blockquote>MIKA BRZEZINSKI: I think it's really fair to take a look at the work the Clinton Foundation has done and take the time to hear about it, which is what we've been doing. There's so much more you can do as president, obviously, and so I guess the question would be, are you certain that there are no e-mails or foundation ties to foreign entities that will be revealed that could perhaps permanently impact your presidential prospects? HILLARY CLINTON (via telephone): Mika, I am sure, and I am sure because I have a very strong foundation of understanding about the foundation, not to have a play on words, that the kind of work that the foundation has done, which attracted donors from around the world, is work that went right into providing services to people. As we have said before, neither my husband nor daughter nor I have ever taken a penny of salary from the foundation. My work as secretary of state was not influenced by any outside forces. I made policy decisions based on what I thought was right to keep Americans safe and protect our interests abroad. I believe my aides also acted appropriately. And we have gone above and beyond most of the charities that I understand, beyond the legal requirements, beyond standards, to voluntarily disclose donors, and also to reduce sources of funding that raised any questions, not that we thought they were necessarily legitimate, but to avoid those questions. And so we're going to go at this I believe in the right way of trying to make sure the good work continues as we wind it down. BRZEZINSKI: Madam Secretary, if a Republican candidate who was actually credible was running against you and served as secretary of state and ran a foundation that took donation from foreign entities, wouldn't you be criticizing him or her for a conflict of interest? And in retrospect, was that a good idea if you're not going to be doing it in some cases as president? CLINTON: Mika, I would not be criticizing. I would be looking at the work. And if there were no evidence and -- you know, I mean, people can say whatever they want. I understand that, but if there were no evidence that there was any conflict, I would say, look, I appreciate the work that they did to help 11.5 million people around the world get more affordable medicines and I appreciate the work that was done to help more people make a living and get a job and help American kids battle obesity and get better foods.</blockquote> Watch the full interview: <iframe src='http://player.theplatform.com/p/7wvmTC/MSNBCEmbeddedOffSite?guid=n_mj_clintonfull_160826' height='500' width='635' scrolling='no' border='no' ></iframe>