Confessions of a Clintonworld Exile

Doug Band worked alongside Bill Clinton every day for nearly two decades, first as a body man and then as one of the primary architects of his lucrative and often-fraught post-presidency. Then came a seismic falling out with accusations of self-dealing and soap-opera-level psychodrama. Now, for the first time since leaving Clinton’s orbit, Band goes on the record about his days in Clintonworld.

 Vanity Fair

. . . "Band’s breakup with Clinton remains a subject of fascination and fierce debate in the Clinton diaspora. Some view the split as a father-son story gone awry. Others see it as a cautionary tale. Band mastered the dark arts of self-dealing, power brokering, and conflict-of-interest navigation that made Clinton’s postpresidency seem, at times, like one big money grab. Like his mentor, he grew fabulously wealthy doing it. Band drew multiple salaries from Clinton’s office, the foundation, and CGI. He also had a side deal with Burkle’s Yucaipa Companies. Even his path out of Clintonworld charted directly through Clintonworld. Teneo was essentially an arm of the Clinton Foundation in its early years. Band converted foundation donors to Teneo clients and encouraged Teneo clients to donate to the foundation. With all the dollars flying back and forth, it looked to Band’s critics like Band was cashing in on his boss’s Rolodex. In 2018, Band and his family purchased a $20 million Manhattan town house that once belonged to David Rockefeller and are in the midst of a multiyear renovation. Last year, Band and his partners sold a majority stake of Teneo to private equity firm CVC Capital at a reported valuation of $700 million. . . .

. . . "Meanwhile, Bill’s erratic behavior during the 2008 Democratic primary torched his statesman image. “He dismantled everything we had done,” Band said. Bill took on the role of Hillary’s attack dog and went aggressively after Barack Obama. As the primary dragged on, Bill shouted at voters and reporters in a series of rope-line meltdowns. The spectacle of a former president denigrating America’s would-be first Black president went viral. Prominent Democrats called the outbursts “bizarre,” “ill-tempered,” and “ill-founded.” Al Sharpton said Bill needed to “shut up.' ” . . .

. . . "At the time, Band attributed Bill’s mistakes to aftereffects of his 2004 heart attack, rustiness from not having run a national campaign in over a decade, and a visceral dislike of Hillary’s opponent. “Obama drove him nuts,” Band said. Looking back, however, Band thinks Bill may have consciously or unconsciously not wanted Hillary to win. “He was used to it being all about him, and if she won, it would be all about her. That’s not how he lived his life for the four decades leading up to that election,” he said. “In her White House, he would be back under a microscope but without the benefit of being the one in charge.”  . . .

Full article here

Via Clinton gang insider spills sleazy secrets, savages Chelsea

But keep in mind that omerta still governs many of the more central schemers in the Clinton machine, because they made peace with the Obama Machine, and now have or aspire to insider roles in what they assume will be a Biden presidency. People like John Podesta and Rahm Emanuel. I suspect most of them will go to their graves before they tell the truth.