Subject: RE: Clinton Foundation Letter
From: Amitabh Desai <[email-masked]>
To: Bruce Lindsey <[email-masked]>, "[email-masked]" <[email-masked]>
Cc: Laura Graham <[email-masked]>, Doug Band - PC <[email-masked]>, Justin Cooper - PC <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 18 Apr 2012 17:58:51 -0400

Will do - I just left a message for Helen Clark's chief of staff. Hard to know if they'll tip off Ira but I'll try to do it delicately. Sincerely, Ami

-----Original Message-----
From: Bruce Lindsey 
Sent: Wednesday, April 18, 2012 2:28 PM
To: Amitabh Desai; [email-masked]
Cc: Laura Graham; Doug Band - PC; Justin Cooper - PC
Subject: Re: Clinton Foundation Letter

I agree with your unhappiness, but not your approach.  I think you should talk with someone at UNDP and try to find out how much they have committed and if it is a grant or matching funds, what the scope of the project is, what the deliverables are, etc.  Or you can wait and try to get those details from Darien.

The problem is that President Clinton apparently told Ira he supported this in concept.  With Ira, if you give him an inch he will take a mile.

Bruce

----- Original Message -----
From: Amitabh Desai
To: Bruce Lindsey; [email-masked] <[email-masked]>
Cc: Laura Graham; Doug Band - PC; Justin Cooper - PC
Sent: Wed Apr 18 12:47:19 2012
Subject: FW: Clinton Foundation Letter

In reading the attached letter from the Barbados PM, I'm a bit inclined to recommend WJC writing back and delicately saying something like: this is an issue of shared importance and I'd like to be helpful but am not sure yet exactly what a project could or should look like (and how much it would cost and over what timeline, with what specific deliverables) and I therefore would welcome input from you (the PM) and other leaders in the region before this is discussed publicly, and I'd like you to speak with my staff (listing us and not Ira).

And/or we can call the UN Secretary General's folks and say their UNDP/energy folks should deal with us and not Ira.

The above seems like a nuclear option but at this point unless we do something, it seems like Ira is going to proceed on something that we don't really have a handle on, and it could be good, but on the other hand - and given precedence with CHAI and CCI - it could spend (a lot of) money without us knowing specifically what WJC and the world will get in terms of results (on a timeline) and/or us being able to control how WJC's name / legacy are being impacted / used in relation to this project. 
 
Maybe I am being petty but just wanted to raise this option with you, and I'm happy to proceed as you wish. Tackling islands is something we all believe in but it's hard to know what Ira's plan is and hard to trust it since we seem to learn of things after the fact, as evidenced by us learning of this "launch" via the email below today. Thanks.

-----Original Message-----
From: Ira Magaziner 
Sent: Wednesday, April 18, 2012 9:29 AM
To: Terry Krinvic
Cc: Amitabh Desai
Subject: FW: Clinton Foundation Letter

Terry:

Attached is a letter that will come to President Clinton from the Prime Minister of Barbados inviting him to speak on May 8 at a high level conference of energy Ministers from all of the Island nations in the world. The conference is being sponsored by UNDP and we will be participating. I will be there.

UNDP is providing funds to the Clinton Foundation for our work on clean energy and we will be launching our work at this conference.

Obviously, if President Clinton can speak, that would be great. If he cannot attend but could provide a video, that would also be very helpful.

I am sorry for the short notice, but the conference has come together rather quickly.

Thanks

Ira