Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump called for an “expedited investigation” by a special prosecutor into “pay-to-play” accusations involving the Clinton Foundation, amid new allegations the group sought special access for donors with Hillary Clinton’s State Department.
“The Clintons made the State Department into the same kind of pay-to-play operations as the Arkansas government was: pay the Clinton Foundation huge sums of money and throw in some big speaking fees for Bill Clinton and you got to play with the State Department,” Trump said at a campaign rally Monday night in Akron, Ohio.
“The amounts involved, the favors done, the significant amount of time, require an expedited investigation by a special prosecutor immediately, immediately,” he added.
Trump also called the investigation by the FBI and Justice Department into Clinton’s private email server a “whitewash,” and said the two agencies “cannot be trusted to quickly or impartially investigate Hillary Clinton’s crimes.”
Earlier Monday, conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch released new emails showing communications between Clinton aide Huma Abedin and the Clinton Foundation while Clinton was secretary of state. The group said they show Abedin “provided influential Clinton Foundation donors special, expedited access to the secretary of state,” including for Crown Prince Salman of Bahrain.
That email exchange occurred in June 2009. It started with top foundation official Doug Band notifying Abedin that the crown prince was coming to the U.S. and seeking a meeting. He noted he is a “good friend of ours.”