Following the money.

Listen To You Tell Me Texas Friday 6/17/16

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In the wake of the Orlando massacre, Hillary Clinton was quick to call out Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar for “funding extremist organizations.” She was right to do so. All three are guilty as charged.

But in that calling out, she failed to mention that all three have funded the Clinton Foundation to the tune of tens of millions of dollars. Saudi Arabia most of all. The Saudis – at upwards of $25 million – rank at or near the top of foreign governments that have given to the Clinton Foundation.

Never missing an opportunity to pander, Mrs. Clinton went on to say to the LGBT community that she “will keep fighting for your right to live freely, openly and without fear.”

Again, Mrs. Clinton fails to mention that she would certainly lose that fight in Saudi Arabia. Homosexuality is a capital crime in Saudi Arabia as it is in most Muslim nations. Get caught in a homosexual act most places in the Middle East, and you could be executed.

She also fails to mention that the Saudis, the Kuwaitis and the Qataris have all been particularly generous in their gifts to the Clinton Foundation since Mrs. Clinton announced her presidential run.

It’s unlikely that she failed to notice. While secretary of state, the Clinton Foundation disclosed contributions that could be politically damaging in the most cryptic way possible. In a filing with an obscure New York charity board the foundation listed $17.7 million in donations from “foreign governments.” As to which foreign governments, the filing didn’t say.

Pressed on the matter, Clinton Foundation executive director Donna Shalala said, “there is nothing to suggest that the foundation intended to conceal the receipt of government grants, which we report on our website.”

Pressed last week by CNN’s Anderson Cooper, Mrs. Clinton conceded that there could have been “one or two instances” where contributions intended to influence her in her capacity as secretary of state might have “slipped through the cracks.”

The Clinton Foundation maintains that gifts from Middle East theocracies are “helping improve the lives of millions of people across the world.” No one asks why, if the Saudis really want to help people, they don’t just directly fund those in need of help.

With respect to charitable works, no one asks what value the Clinton Foundation adds. No one asks why money from charitable givers can’t bypass the Clinton Foundation altogether and instead go directly to the country or organization that the money is intended to help.

The reason no one asks is because the answer is so obvious. The Saudis, to the extent that they wish to be altruistic, don’t need the Clinton Foundation. The Saudis and others have given to the Clinton Foundation because they expect to benefit from it.

The slang term is “pay to play,” or, “betting on the come.”

This week Donald Trump demanded that the Clintons return that pile of Middle East cash.

But the smart money says there’ll be a gay pride parade in Mecca before they do.