Ongoing questions directed at Hillary Clinton over compensation for speeches she gave in recent years have taken on a new target in a government office that oversees reporting of such income.
In a letter to the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) dated Dec. 23, Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, pressured the office for a detailed explanation for its decision to exempt Clinton from disclosing income, the Washington Examiner reported.
"Earlier this year, press reports indicated that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her husband failed to disclose millions of dollars in paid speeches over the past thirteen years under the belief they did not have a duty to report that because the speeches were delivered on behalf of the Clinton Foundation, and not in the Secretary's or the President's personal capacity," Chaffetz wrote in the letter and published on the committee's website.
Chaffetz cited "at least five speeches" for which Clinton routed her speaking fee to the philanthropy between 2014 and 2015. In the letter, Chaffetz demanded that the ethics office deliver all documents related to its discussions with the Clintons and the Foundation staff about fee disclosures made since 2008.
Earlier this year when questions over Clinton's speech income arose, a spokesman for the agency attempted to parse the circumstances when a public filer must disclose speaking fees obtained.
“Disclosure of speaking fees is not required when a public filer or the filer’s spouse is acting as an agent of an organization and payment is made directly to that organization,” OGE spokesman Vincent Salmon said at the time, according to Politico. “The rule is different when the speaking is done in a personal capacity and the fees are directed or donated to charity, in which case disclosure would be required.”
In May, Hillary and Bill Clinton disclosed in a filing to the Federal Election Commission that they had earned more than $25 million in delivering speeches over the course of 2014 and the first part of 2015. Hillary Clinton also said she earned more than $5 million in royalties for her book, "Hard Choices," The Washington Post reported.
