The flood of stories regarding her private email server and donations to the Clinton Foundation demonstrate the former secretary of state won't be able to completely outrun voter skepticism -- or Donald Trump.
Trump went on offense Monday, using the bulk of a speech in Akron, Ohio, to attack Clinton.
"No issue better illustrates how corrupt my opponent is than her pay for play scandals as secretary of state," Trump said.
"I've become increasingly shocked by the vast scope of Hillary Clinton's criminality. It's criminality. Everybody knows it," he said as the crowd erupted in a sea of "Lock her up!" chants.
"The amounts involved, the favors done and the significant numbers of times it was done require an expedited investigation by a special prosecutor immediately, immediately, immediately," Trump said. "After the FBI and Department of Justice whitewash of the Clinton email crimes, they certainly cannot be trusted to quickly or impartially investigate Hillary Clinton's new crimes, which happen all the time."
Trump also encouraged his supporters to "watch" on Election Day, raising the specter of voter fraud: "When I say 'watch,' you know what I'm talking about." Recently, Trump had warned that the November election could be "rigged."
For Trump, the controversies are a welcome opportunity to push the idea that Clinton is part of the Washington establishment and can't be trusted to shun special interests. A Washington Post/ABC News poll from earlier this month showed that 59% of voters believe that Clinton is not honest and trustworthy. (That same poll that 62% believe Trump is not trustworthy.)
Trump bluntly argued that Clinton's actions at the State Department amounted to corruption, even suggesting Clinton was at the center of a racketeering scheme.
"We are going to take government away from the special interests that give her tens of millions of dollars so that she can broadcast absolutely phony ads about me and we're going to give it back to the voters," Trump vowed. "Come November 8th, we are once again going to have a government that serves you and your family and your country, not the special interests, the donors and the lobbyists."
It's a good time for Trump to go on offense against Clinton. She is spending most of the week fundraising, with several high-dollar events in California. His campaign is also keen on reminding people that Clinton hasn't had a press conference in months -- and therefore hasn't had to answer repeated questions on each new development.
Trump's attacks aside, stories emerging over the past few days from a federal courtroom, Capitol Hill and an event on Long Island show it doesn't take much to get the issue of Clinton's emails and the Clinton Foundation back into the news cycle.
Clinton got some bad news from a federal judge Monday, who gave the State Department until September 23 to determine a plan on how to release nearly 15,000 documents the FBI had obtained as part of its investigation into her private email server -- possibly creating a timeline where thousands of emails could be made public right before Election Day.
Trump's focus on Clinton may help take the spotlight off of himself ever so slightly. Having restructured his campaign team last week, Trump was expected to deliver a speech later this week outlining his immigration policy. But that speech has been delayed, a campaign source said.
So the campaign turned its attention on Clinton, the Clinton Foundation and her emails. That was readily apparent Monday, as both Trump and vice presidential nominee Mike Pence brought up the issue.
Source:
http://edition.cnn.com/2016/08/22/politics/donald-trump-clinton-foundation-shut-down/index.html?sr=fbpol082216donald-trump-clinton-foundation-shut-down0205PMVODtopLink&linkId=27908670
Trump went on offense Monday, using the bulk of a speech in Akron, Ohio, to attack Clinton.
"No issue better illustrates how corrupt my opponent is than her pay for play scandals as secretary of state," Trump said.
"I've become increasingly shocked by the vast scope of Hillary Clinton's criminality. It's criminality. Everybody knows it," he said as the crowd erupted in a sea of "Lock her up!" chants.
"The amounts involved, the favors done and the significant numbers of times it was done require an expedited investigation by a special prosecutor immediately, immediately, immediately," Trump said. "After the FBI and Department of Justice whitewash of the Clinton email crimes, they certainly cannot be trusted to quickly or impartially investigate Hillary Clinton's new crimes, which happen all the time."
Trump also encouraged his supporters to "watch" on Election Day, raising the specter of voter fraud: "When I say 'watch,' you know what I'm talking about." Recently, Trump had warned that the November election could be "rigged."
For Trump, the controversies are a welcome opportunity to push the idea that Clinton is part of the Washington establishment and can't be trusted to shun special interests. A Washington Post/ABC News poll from earlier this month showed that 59% of voters believe that Clinton is not honest and trustworthy. (That same poll that 62% believe Trump is not trustworthy.)
Trump bluntly argued that Clinton's actions at the State Department amounted to corruption, even suggesting Clinton was at the center of a racketeering scheme.
"We are going to take government away from the special interests that give her tens of millions of dollars so that she can broadcast absolutely phony ads about me and we're going to give it back to the voters," Trump vowed. "Come November 8th, we are once again going to have a government that serves you and your family and your country, not the special interests, the donors and the lobbyists."
It's a good time for Trump to go on offense against Clinton. She is spending most of the week fundraising, with several high-dollar events in California. His campaign is also keen on reminding people that Clinton hasn't had a press conference in months -- and therefore hasn't had to answer repeated questions on each new development.
Trump's attacks aside, stories emerging over the past few days from a federal courtroom, Capitol Hill and an event on Long Island show it doesn't take much to get the issue of Clinton's emails and the Clinton Foundation back into the news cycle.
Clinton got some bad news from a federal judge Monday, who gave the State Department until September 23 to determine a plan on how to release nearly 15,000 documents the FBI had obtained as part of its investigation into her private email server -- possibly creating a timeline where thousands of emails could be made public right before Election Day.
Trump's focus on Clinton may help take the spotlight off of himself ever so slightly. Having restructured his campaign team last week, Trump was expected to deliver a speech later this week outlining his immigration policy. But that speech has been delayed, a campaign source said.
So the campaign turned its attention on Clinton, the Clinton Foundation and her emails. That was readily apparent Monday, as both Trump and vice presidential nominee Mike Pence brought up the issue.
Source:
http://edition.cnn.com/2016/08/22/politics/donald-trump-clinton-foundation-shut-down/index.html?sr=fbpol082216donald-trump-clinton-foundation-shut-down0205PMVODtopLink&linkId=27908670
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