Or Kazakh-gate all over again? This issue is being covered and analyzed well in a number of websites so I’m not sure I have much to add except a bunch of links. When Bill Clinton came to Kazakhstan in 2005 and collected a donation from President Nazarbayev for his HIV/AIDS charitable fund, he may well have been doing some business on the side, assisting a businessman named Frank Giustra invest money in uranium projects in Kazakhstan. Josh Frost at Registan.net points out that getting rights to strategic resources like uranium is not normally very easy, making Bill Clinton’s role as intermediary/power pusher a little “sketchy”.

The New York Times story which broke the potential scandal describes “a sumptuous midnight banquet with Kazakhstan’s president, Nursultan A. Nazarbayev” that greeted Clinton and Giustra upon arrival. Not something new businessmen normally get to do.

As The Roberts Report points out, inviting–even paying–big names to come to a country with a less-than-stellar-reputation is not unheard of and the local press eats it up (”Bill Clinton came to our country and ate beshbarmak. Hurrah!). Unfortunately it is also not unheard of for these big influential names to use their draw to help businessmen make deals.

Meanwhile The Daily Kos argues that this story might have an impact on the US Presidential Elections. Good coverage and summary, although one does wish they wouldn’t call it “Borat-gate”.