Federal authorities have opened a new investigation into the Clinton Foundation to explore allegations of corruption and to determine whether policy favors were traded for donations while Hillary Clinton was Secretary of State between 2009 and 2013.
According to the Hill, the investigation is being led by the FBI from their office in Little Rock, Arkansas, and is being overseen by the U.S. attorney’s office. So far agents have interviewed at least one individual who described the interview to the publication, under anonymity, as “extremely professional and unquestionably thorough.”
It is unclear whether any new evidence has come to light, however, the FBI first began looking into the foundation in 2015, halting the investigation when the presidential election started.
Throughout the campaign and during his presidency, President Donald Trump has repeatedly urged for a further investigation into Clinton, his Democrat rival in the election, who he often refers to as “crooked Hillary.”
Crooked Hillary Clinton’s top aid, Huma Abedin, has been accused of disregarding basic security protocols. She put Classified Passwords into the hands of foreign agents. Remember sailors pictures on submarine? Jail! Deep State Justice Dept must finally act? Also on Comey & others
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2018
Clinton’s spokesperson slammed the probe as a ”sham” in a public statement released on Friday, criticizing it as a ploy to distract from the ongoing investigation into Trump campaign collusion with Russia.
“Let’s call this what it is: a sham. This is a philanthropy that does life-changing work, which Republicans have tried to turn into a political football,” Nick Merrill said. “It began with a now long-debunked project spearheaded by Steve Bannon during the presidential campaign. It continues with Jeff Sessions doing Trump’s bidding by heeding his calls to meddle with a department that is supposed to function independently.”
In a separate statement, the foundation’s official spokesperson Craig Minassian said that “time after time, the Clinton Foundation has been subjected to politically motivated allegations, and time after time these allegations have been proven false.”
“The Clinton Foundation has demonstrably improved the lives of millions of people across America and around the world while earning top ratings from charity watchdog groups in the process.”
While the investigation is an entirely different from the FBI’s probe into Clinton’s use of a private email server, in which it’s alleged she conducted official state business and exposed classified information over her personal email, Republicans are urging that this be reopened as well.
Work on that case in October caused an uproar, making headlines right before the election.