GOP lawmakers urge Clinton Foundation to return donation

Republican Reps. Joe Pitts (Pa.) and Chris Smith (N.J.) want the Clinton Foundation to reject a donation from a Moroccan-based company they say is exploiting resources in the Western Sahara.

Office Chérifien des Phosphates (OCP), the largest phosphate exporter in the world which is owned by the Moroccan government, is reportedly donating $1 million that will be used for the Clinton Global Initiative Middle East and Africa Meeting in early May in Marrakesh, Morocco. OCP maintains mines in the disputed territory of Western Sahara, where thousands of refugees departed after Morocco annexed the area in 1975.

In a letter to the Clinton Foundation, Pitts, the co-chair of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, and Smith, who chairs a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on Africa, said that the group associated with Bill and Hillary Clinton shouldn’t accept donations from an entity with questionable business practices.

{mosads}”OCP’s activities in the extraction of phosphates from Western Sahara are questionable at best and may very well be illegal under international law,” they wrote. “Out of respect for internationally recognized human rights norms, the Clinton Global Initiative should discontinue its coordination with OCP and return any accepted money from the enterprise.”

“The acceptance of funds from organizations like OCP only stands to further and exacerbate conflict, human rights violations and the disregard for the needs and interests of the Sahrawi people,” they added.

Hillary Clinton officially announced her 2016 presidential campaign on Sunday.

A Clinton-allied group accused the two GOP lawmakers of trying to mischaracterize a charity organization for the sake of undermining the former Secretary of State.

“Republican politicians are so desperate to smear the work of Hillary Clinton that they are stooping to new lows, interfering with charitable programs that do good around the world. Americans are tired of this extreme partisanship and want leaders like Hillary Clinton, who are focused on making life better for everyday Americans,” said Adrienne Watson, spokeswoman for the Democratic super PAC American Bridge’s “Correct the Record” effort.

– Updated at 1:58 p.m.