former president bill clinton stopped charging six-figure fees for his speeches about six months after hillary clinton began her presidential run last year. but his talks still can be costly, particularly for cash-strapped universities. mr. clinton has required pricey charter air travel, along with other expenses that typically have run $20,000 to $40,000 per speech at roughly a dozen public universities in the u.s. and u.k. since 2013, according to documents the wall street journal obtained under public-records laws. some of the requests for charter travel wouldn<u+2019>t be unusual for a former president or a high-profile official, according to university officials. a spokesman wouldn<u+2019>t answer questions about how many people typically travel with mr. clinton, including the secret service agents who accompany all former presidents. news of the clinton speech details comes as hillary clinton<u+2019>s presidential campaign has been buffeted this week by the wikileaks release of hacked emails showing that companies that donated to the clinton foundation were encouraged by fundraisers to pay mr. clinton for speeches and other <u+201c>for profit<u+201d> activities . records also show that some university officials were frustrated at demands from mr. clinton<u+2019>s team for prepublication review of news releases, social-media posts and website materials. mr. clinton<u+2019>s aides often imposed strict prohibitions on media interviews and other limits but asked public-affairs officials to keep the no-interview policy out of news releases. angel urena, a spokesman for mr. clinton, wouldn<u+2019>t comment on specific cases but said in a statement: <u+201c>since leaving the white house, president clinton has done nearly 1,000 events and has proudly lent his name and time to hundreds of charitable organizations and their causes, gratis.<u+201d> the separate wikileaks release, involving emails stolen from mrs. clinton<u+2019>s campaign chairman, highlight a number of perks arranged for the clintons. a 2011 memo written by douglas j. band, a former top aide to mr. clinton, described how mr. band and a colleague helped mr. clinton arrange <u+201c>more than $50 million in for-profit activity<u+201d> and <u+201c>$66 million in future contracts.<u+201d> mr. band also helped the clintons get charter flights and vacations at no cost in conjunction with speeches and business deals, according to the memo. in recent years, mr. and mrs. clinton have been criticized broadly for paid speeches, ranging from $200,000 to $500,000 each, sometimes at universities experiencing budgetary constraints. those speeches picked up significantly in 2014 after mrs. clinton left the state department and before she announced her run for president. the emails and documents obtained by the journal under open-records laws show that mr. clinton and his staff were particularly concerned about what would be announced regarding money associated with the college speeches, even asking at times that mr. clinton<u+2019>s name be separated from dollar signs. <u+2018> they [bill clinton<u+2019>s office] wanted us standing by flying at whatever time of the night they were done partying. <u+2019> last november, when mr. clinton won the dole leadership prize at the university of kansas, he declined the $25,000 prize money and earmarked the cash to help start a program on women in leadership at the robert j. dole institute of politics, named for the former republican senator. the announcement of mr. clinton<u+2019>s gesture brought a round of applause from a crowd gathered at the lied center of kansas. but records and receipts obtained under the kansas open records act show the dole institute paid $26,000 for mr. clinton<u+2019>s charter flight to attend the ceremony. costs for the flight came after mr. clinton<u+2019>s office couldn<u+2019>t reach an agreement with a kansas businessman who offered mr. clinton a free flight on his corporate cessna jet, according to emails and interviews with the businessmen and officials at the universities. the flight was to begin in white plains, n.y., to lawrence, kan., then to pittsburg, kan., where he was to deliver another speech at pittsburg state university, and then on to little rock. the pittsburg speech came after a request from a former wal-mart chief executive, the brother of the university president, according to emails and officials at pittsburg state. <u+201c>it became so complicated and the communication was so difficult, we just agreed to disagree and we were not right for him,<u+201d> said ken brock, a directory publisher and a donor to pittsburg state university whose company owns the cessna jet. <u+201c>they wanted us standing by flying at whatever time of the night they were done partying.<u+201d> a clinton spokesman declined to comment on mr. brock<u+2019>s statement. chris meyer, a pilot for mr. brock<u+2019>s company, said in an interview that mr. clinton<u+2019>s requirements made the trip <u+201c>a goat rope,<u+201d> a reference to its chaotic nature. bill lacy, director of the dole institute, said travel costs of speakers vary widely, with dignitaries such as former president george h.w. bush requiring expensive travel itineraries, while others didn<u+2019>t. for a commencement speech at the university of central florida in 2013, mr. clinton waived his fee. receipts obtained under the florida open records act show a charter flight on a gulfstream iv cost the school about $42,000. (mr. clinton<u+2019>s agreement with the universities is that they paid for his charter travel.) the university<u+2019>s private foundation paid the costs and no state funds were used, a spokesman said. in setting up a speech mr. clinton gave to ohio state university last year, clinton chief of staff tina flournoy asked about finances in an email to a university official, seeking assurance <u+201c>that costs associated with the event will be paid for with funds that have been privately raised for this specific event,<u+201d> adding that the official <u+201c>further indicated that any excess funds<u+2014>over and above those used to cover costs<u+2014>will be used to fund student scholarships.<u+201d> there were no profits, according to a spreadsheet listing revenue and expenses for the event obtained under ohio state open records request. ohio state charged $25 and $35 apiece to attend the event, the university raised $47,500. but expenses exceeded the income by $27,500, according to the spreadsheet. among the expenses was nearly $20,000 for mr. clinton<u+2019>s charter flight from white plains. a spokesman said the difference was paid through private donations, not state funds, and those donations contributed to scholarships. the charter bill came as a surprise. <u+201c>i was told originally to assume a 10k expense on the flight,<u+201d> wrote victoria boczkowski, an ohio state events manager, in an email obtained in the records request. when she learned that was the charge, she replied to the clinton staffer: <u+201c>i clearly have not flown beyond measly coach.<u+201d> <u+2014>peter nicholas, richard rubin and rebecca ballhaus contributed to this article.
pricey charter flights were standard for bill clinton<u+2019>s free speeches  - wsj
james v. grimaldi