Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton charged $300,000 to speak to students and faculty at University of California Los Angeles in March, even after school officials tried to negotiate the deal.
According to new documents obtained by the Washington Post under the Freedom of Information Act, the school asked for a reduced rate for public universities, but Mrs. Clinton’s representatives said that $300,000 was the “special university rate.”
The documents show that planning for Mrs. Clinton’s appearances took over a year, and that representatives managed everything from the size of pillows on armchairs used on stage to the multiple teleprompters requested for the lecture hall.
“She uses a lavalier [microphone] and will both speak from the audience and walk around stage, TED talk style. We need a teleprompter and 2-3 downstage scrolling monitors [for] her to read from,” UCLA administrator Patricia Lippert told The Washington Post.
E-mails show that Mrs. Clinton’s team rejected the podium selected for her use at the UCLA event, sending school officials scrambling to find a more suitable podium and rent a new university seal to match.
Mrs. Clinton’s representatives requested “Coffee, tea, room temp sparkling and still water, diet ginger ale, crudité, hummus and sliced fruit” for the green room, according to The Washington Post.
They also asked for a computer, mouse and printer, as well as a scanner, which the university had to purchase for the occasion.
Mrs. Clinton has come under fire for her extravagant public-speaking expenses. Students at the University of Nevada Las Vegas protested Mrs. Clinton’s $225,000 fee for the school’s annual dinner at the Belagio, citing increasing tuition at the school.
The likely 2016 Democratic nominee has also made headlines for her extravagant traveling requirements, including private jet rentals.
The UCLA speaking fee went to the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton foundation.
• Kellan Howell can be reached at khowell@washingtontimes.com.
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