Donald Trump called for a special prosecutor to investigate Hillary Clinton, saying the FBI and Department of Justice can’t be trusted to be impartial.
“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 in Akron, Ohio, of the State Department under Clinton, adding the “immediately’s” to his prepared remarks. “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.”
Under current U.S. law, independent counsel can be appointed when the Attorney General determines that an investigation by the Department of Justice “would present a conflict of interest for the Department or other extraordinary circumstances” and “that under the circumstances, it would be in the public interest to appoint and outside Special Counsel.”
Loretta Lynch, the current U.S. Attorney General, came under fire in June for meeting privately with former President Bill Clinton while the FBI and Justice Department were investigating Hillary Clinton’s private email server. At the time, Lynch said they did not discuss the email issue. Trump referenced this meeting in his speech Monday, citing it as an example of the Department of Justice acting “unethically.”
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Write to Tessa Berenson Rogers at tessa.Rogers@time.com