Does the Clinton Foundation serve as an entree to the Clinton's power? One important relationship points to yes

Frank Giustra's relationship with Bill Clinton has proven beneficial to his businesses.

Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign has not only put an intense pressure on herself, it has put the Clinton Foundation and its donors under a microscope, as well. Following the announcement of a "tell all" book on the Clinton Foundation's private foreign donors, news has circulated that many of their donors may have received prestigious favors hand-in-hand with the donations.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - One of the men directly discussed in the much-anticipated book, "Clinton Cash" by Peter Schweizer, is the Canadian "mining magnate" and entrepreneur, Frank Giustra.

Bill Clinton and Giustra formed a powerful relationship that began with a special trip in 2005. Clinton needed a big plane to travel to Latin America for a charity event. Giustra owned a luxurious passenger jet. He allowed Clinton to use his jet, on one condition, he would come along.

"I think we both worked very hard to achieve what we wanted to achieve. I think he kind of respected that, and we hit it off right away," stated Giustra in a rare interview with the Washington Post noting that they bonded on philanthropy, not business.

In September 2005, Giustra flew to Kazakhstan for business; he wanted the Kazakh uranium mines. Three days later, Clinton and Giustra flew to Almaty, the former capital, for a health initiative foundation reveal with the country's president Nursultan Nazarbayev.

Days after their departure, Giustra's $500 million purchase of one of the most productive mines in the world, that would become UrAsia, finalized, raising the question on if Clinton had anything to do with it.

According to Giustra, the deal was already "about to close anyway" and Clinton had absolutely nothing to do with it.

The next year, Giustra made a $32.7 million donation to the Clinton Foundation.

Giustra's connection with Clinton also gave him a pull on Alvaro Uribe of Colombia. Uribe, Giustra and Clinton have met together several times since Giustra and Uribe's initial introduction. In 2007, Giustra played a major part in creating Pacific Rubiales Energy, the fast-growing oil company operating in Colombia.

While Hillary Clinton served as Secretary of State in 2010, she met with her husband and Giustra and then privately with Uribe. A few hours after all the private talks, she announced her support for a free-trade deal with Colombia, something completely different than her stance in 2008.

However, according to her press secretary, Brian Fallon, "then-Secretary Clinton's statements in support of the deal reflected the President's position."

Although Giustra had been involved with charity since the 1990s, it wasn't until he met Bill in 2005 that his interest in charity "exploded," in his own words.

"I have one very specific reason I have a relationship with Bill Clinton: I admire what he does, and I want to be part of it," Giustra said. "But I've never asked him for a damn thing."

Since their first trip, Clinton has borrowed Giustra's plane 26 times, with 13 of the trips involving both of them, and Giustra has committed more than $100 million to the Clinton Foundation over the last 10 years.

The Clinton Foundation has publicly acknowledged that an affiliated Canadian charity founded in 2007 by Giustra kept its donors a secret. This arrangement "opened a way for anonymous donors, including foreign executives with business pending before the Hillary Clinton-led State Department, to direct money to the Clinton Foundation," according to the Washington Post.

Questions continue to circulate as to whether the Clinton Foundation "has served as an avenue for wealthy interests to gain entree to a powerful family," like the Clintons.

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