The FBI is conducting a new investigation of whether the Clinton Foundation was involved in pay-to-play activities while Hillary Clinton was Secretary of State, according to a report by The Hill, and Clinton reps are pushing back. Sources told the publication that agents in Little Rock, Arkansas had already interviewed at least one witness about whether any preferred treatment was given to Clinton Foundation donors when it came to Obama administration policy.
Clinton’s camp blasted the new investigation as a political maneuver from the Trump administration.
“Let’s call this what it is: a sham,” Clinton spokesperson Nick Merrill told The Hill on Friday. “This is a philanthropy that does life-changing work, which Republicans have tried to turn into a political football.” Merrill added that this was just “Jeff Sessions doing Trump’s bidding by heeding calls to meddle with a department that is supposed to function independently.”
According to the report, the Foundation isn’t the only subject of the FBI’s investigation. Clinton’s private e-mail server is also reportedly being looked at, at least to some degree, as DOJ officials are said to be exploring whether the previous email investigation left anything unresolved.
Despite the renewed interest in possible criminal activity by Clinton or the Foundation, there may not be much that the DOJ can do. Clinton’s term as Secretary of State ended on February 1, 2013, and most federal crimes have a five-year statute of limitations. Unless there is evidence that Clinton or the Foundation exerted improper influence after her term, there doesn’t appear to be much time left to pursue charges.
Clinton Foundation spokesperson Craig Minassian, did not seem too concerned, telling The Hill, “Time after time, the Clinton Foundation has been subjected to politically motivated allegations, and time after time these allegations have been proven false.”
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