The issue focused on an April 2015 article in The Times on the Clinton Foundation: A Department of State Case Study. The article reported that the Clinton Foundation has given $10 million to the Clinton Global Initiative, the international organization that runs the Clinton Global Initiative. The article also reported that the Clinton Foundation has given $6.4 million to the Clinton Foundation for children's health care. The article did not address the State Department's Clinton Foundation contract.

In its response to the Times, the Clinton Foundation did not