Former president Bill Clinton publicly spoke out about the controversial Clinton Foundation for the first time while at a fundraiser for his wife Hillary in Atlanta.

“We’re trying to do good things,” said Bill Clinton. “If there’s something wrong with creating jobs and saving lives, I don’t know what it is. The people who gave the money knew exactly what they were doing. I have nothing to say about it except I’m really proud.”

Clinton said the foundation has found partners who will take over its worldwide programs.

Should Hillary be elected president, Clinton said he would step down from the board and stop fundraising for the foundation. However, he also said the foundation will not shut down.

"You just can’t do this stuff overnight. Not if you don’t want anybody to lose their jobs or their form of income or their lives. That’s my only concern. And I want to take care of the people who work for me and give them a reasonable time to transition, which they will,” he said. 

Clinton also said he was very proud of the work done by the foundation.

“I'm really proud of what we did and nothing that has been said in the last few days has done anything to dampen that.”

The foundation has always operated under a cloud of suspicion. Most recently, an Associated Press report revealed more than half of the people who met with Hillary Clinton while she was Secretary of State directly donated to the foundation.

According to AP, “154 people from private interests … met or had phone conversations scheduled with Clinton while she led the State Department.”

The Daily Caller writes:

At least 85 of those people either donated or pledged to donate money to the Clinton Foundation.

The 85 donors supplied the Clinton’s alleged slush-fund up to $156 million, with at least 40 individuals giving more than $100,000 and 20 giving more than $1 million.

Presidential nominee Donald Trump has called for a special prosecutor to probe the foundation.

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