Former president of the United States, Bill Clinton. work on agreements, giving it the right to buy into three uranium projects controlled by Kazakhstan's state-owned uranium agency, Kazatomprom. Just months after the Kazakh pact was finalized, Mr. Clinton's charitable foundation received its own windfall: a $31.3 million donation from Mr. Giustra that had remained a secret until he acknowledged it last month. The gift, combined with Mr. Giustra's more recent and public pledge to give the William J. Clinton Foundation an additional $100 million, secured Mr. Giustra a place in Mr. Clinton's inner circle, an exclusive club of wealthy entrepreneurs in which friendship with the former president has its privileges.
Mr. Giustra was invited to accompany the former president to Almaty just as the financier was trying to seal a deal he had been negotiating for months.
Mr. Clinton's praise was odd, given that the United States did not support Mr. Nazarbayev's bid. (Late last year, Kazakhstan finally won the chance to lead the security organization for one year, despite concerns raised by the Bush administration.) Moreover, Mr. Clinton's wife, who sits on a Congressional commission with oversight of such matters, had also voiced skepticism.