Hillary Clinton: 'We Lost My Brother'

Tony Rodham apparently died on Friday
By Neal Colgrass,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 8, 2019 1:00 PM CDT
Updated Jun 8, 2019 4:00 PM CDT
Hillary Clinton's Brother Is Dead
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's brothers Tony Rodham, right, and Hugh Rodham, stand before she speaks at a campaign stop, Friday, April 22, 2016, in Dunmore, Pa.   (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Hillary Clinton's younger brother is gone, CNN reports. The 2016 presidential candidate tweeted Saturday that Tony Rodham, 65, had died the night before. "We lost my brother Tony last night," she wrote. "It's hard to find words, my mind is flooded with memories of him today. When he walked into a room he’d light it up with laughter. He was kind, generous, & a wonderful husband. ... We'll miss him very much." Details are otherwise scant, but media reports are recalling turning points in Rodham's life, which existed in the shadow of his successful sister and sometimes proved embarrassing. For example:

  • A pardon: Heads turned when the New York Times reported in 2001 that Rodham had helped secure a presidential pardon for a couple guilty of bank fraud, despite Justice Department opposition. The couple had paid Rodham nearly $250,000 in "consulting fees" to help get that pardon, per USA Today.
  • Haiti quake: His various business ventures included a $22 million arrangement to rebuild homes in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake—while he was co-chair of Haiti's earthquake recovery commission, per the New York Times. That deal could have made him $1 million.
  • Hounding Bill: He later admitted that "a guy in Haiti" had given him 10,000 acres of land. Rodham also said he pressed President Clinton to fund his project: "I hound my brother-in-law, because it’s his fund that we’re going to get our money from," he said, but the project never happened.
  • Electric cars: The president also helped Rodham get a job raising investments at an electric car company, which turned ugly when federal officials said the company had received preferential treatment in the handling visa applications for Chinese investors.
  • Other gigs: Rodham also worked as a private detective, prison guard, repo man, and on the Democratic National Committee, per the AP.
  • Family: He was married to Megan Madden in 2005 after divorcing his first wife—Sen. Barbara Boxer's daughter, Nicole Boxer—and fathered three children who survive him, per NBC News.
(More Hillary Clinton stories.)

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