--- title: Presidential Debate: Donald Trump Calls for Prosecutor description: Donald Trump promised at the debate Sunday night that he would appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Hillary Clinton. canonical: https://time.com/4524459/presidential-debate-donald-trump-special-prosecutor/ author: Haley Sweetland Edwards article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-10-10T04:29:24.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-07T06:50:09.150Z article:section: Politics og:title: Why Trump's Call for a Special Prosecutor Is Different og:description: A break with historical tradition. og:url: https://time.com/4524459/presidential-debate-donald-trump-special-prosecutor/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt536907be5a3c9f55/6988a94ae20a872394a92b67/trump-clinton-debate-lede.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: TIMEPOL og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Why Trump's Call for a Special Prosecutor Is Different twitter:description: A break with historical tradition. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt536907be5a3c9f55/6988a94ae20a872394a92b67/trump-clinton-debate-lede.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 video:duration: 01:26 video:published: 2016-10-10 section: politics topics: presidential debate, special prosecutor, deleted emails, Bernie Sanders, WikiLeaks, superdelegates, FBI, subpoena, Attorney General, campaign accusations genre: political speech, debate excerpt tones: accusatory, combative, confrontational, assertive emotions: anger (high), contempt (medium), indignation (high) sentiment: negative audience: voters, political observers, news readers, election followers people: Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, Deborah Wasserman Schultz organizations: WikiLeaks, FBI content_suitability: politics [00:00-01:26]; crime [01:08-01:26] transcript_source: automatic transcription transcript_reviewed: not applicable ---  # Why Donald Trump's Call for a Special Prosecutor Is Different > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=5c8e409d-d454-48db-8ad8-ecd747c1f8bc&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Donald Trump Calls Hillary Clinton the Devil and Threatens to Prosecute Her [Watch (HLS stream): Donald Trump Calls Hillary Clinton the Devil and Threatens to Prosecute Her](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/yBVSICio.m3u8) (1:26)  _Published 2016-10-10. Donald Trump promised at the presidential debate Sunday night that, if elected, he would appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server_ Description, summary, key points, chapters, key quotes, questions and transcript, where present, were produced automatically from the video or its captions and were not reviewed. ## Summary The speaker criticizes Bernie Sanders' primary experience, citing WikiLeaks and Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and says he was surprised Sanders signed on with "the devil." He then says the person he is addressing should apologize for deleting 33,000 emails. He states that if he wins, he will instruct his Attorney General to appoint a special prosecutor to look into her situation. He claims the public and long-term FBI workers are furious and says emails were deleted after a subpoena and then acid washed or bleached. ## Key points - The speaker says the Bernie Sanders race was not won fair and square, pointing to WikiLeaks and what Deborah Wasserman Schultz had in mind. (00:00) - The speaker claims that between superdelegates and Deborah Wasserman Schultz, Bernie Sanders never had a chance. (00:15) - The speaker says he was surprised to see Sanders sign on with the devil. (00:20) - The speaker says the thing his opponent should apologize for is the 33,000 emails she deleted. (00:24) - The speaker says that if he wins, he will instruct his Attorney General to get a special prosecutor to look into her situation. (00:41) - The speaker claims there has never been so many lies and so much deception. (00:41) - The speaker says people of the country and long-term FBI workers are furious. (00:57) - The speaker alleges that after receiving a subpoena, 33,000 emails were deleted and then acid washed or bleached, which he calls a very expensive process. (01:08) ## Chapters - [00:00 to 00:24] Claims about Sanders primary and WikiLeaks. The speaker argues Bernie Sanders never had a chance in the primary and says he was surprised Sanders signed on with the devil. - [00:24 to 00:41] Apology and the 33,000 deleted emails. The speaker says the apology that matters concerns the 33,000 emails his opponent deleted. - [00:41 to 00:57] Pledge of a special prosecutor. The speaker says that if he wins he will instruct his Attorney General to appoint a special prosecutor. - [00:57 to 01:26] Public anger and subpoena allegations. The speaker claims the public and FBI workers are furious and alleges emails were deleted and acid washed after a subpoena. ## Key quotes - [00:20] Donald Trump: "And I was so surprised to see him sign on with the devil." - [00:41] Donald Trump: "But if I win, I am going to instruct my Attorney General to get a special prosecutor to look" - [00:57] Donald Trump: "and we're going to have a special prosecutor." - [01:08] Donald Trump: "There has never been anything like this where emails and you get" - [01:21] Donald Trump: "you acid wash them or bleach them, as you would say, a very expensive process." ## Questions this video answers - What does the speaker say about Bernie Sanders' primary race? [00:00] - What does the speaker say his opponent should apologize for? [00:24] - What will the speaker do if he wins, regarding his opponent? [00:41] - Who does the speaker claim is furious? [00:57] - What does the speaker allege happened to the emails after a subpoena? [01:08] ## Content suitability - politics [00:00-01:26]: Partisan presidential campaign rhetoric with accusations of lies, deception and a pledge to seek a special prosecutor against an opponent. - crime [01:08-01:26]: Allegations of deleting emails after a subpoena and acid washing or bleaching them, presented as claims by the speaker.  by [Haley Sweetland Edwards](https://time.com/author/haley-sweetland-edwards/)  ## Haley Sweetland Edwards Oct 10, 2016 4:29 AM UTC The two candidates face off in the second of three presidential debates.  by [Haley Sweetland Edwards](https://time.com/author/haley-sweetland-edwards/)  ## Haley Sweetland Edwards Oct 10, 2016 4:29 AM UTC Donald Trump promised at the presidential debate Sunday night that, if elected, he would appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server. “If I win, I am going to instruct my attorney general to get a special prosecutor to look into your situation because there has never been so many lies, so much deception,” he said, [repeating a vow](http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/trump-demands-special-prosecutor-investigate-clinton-s-state-department-tenure-n636281) he first made at the presidential debate Sept. 26. If Trump is elected and actually follows through on that promise, it would be the first time in recent history that a sitting President ordered an attorney general to use federal power to prosecute a political rival. The U.S. Department of Justice announced in July that it would not prosecute Clinton or her aides over their use of a private email server during her tenure as Secretary of State. FBI Director James B. Comey added that while Clinton and her staff were “very careless” in their handling of classified information, there was no evidence of criminal behavior. At the debate, Clinton did not respond directly to Trump’s promise to appoint a special prosecutor, instead opting to question her opponent’s temperament. Trump’s vow seemed designed to be largely a political jab — the natural extension of his campaign’s narrative about both Bill and Hillary Clinton’s allegedly criminal behavior. But, in this case, the specter of a special prosecutor benefits from historical resonance. In 1998, former President Bill Clinton was impeached due largely to the efforts of a special prosecutor, Kenneth Starr. (In the 1980s, special prosecutors were renamed “independent counsel,” but the role is the same.) While special prosecutors have been appointed periodically in U.S. history — to investigate the Teapot Dome bribery in the 1920s and tax scandals of the 1950s, for example — the job has risen to public prominence in the past 40 years. In 1973, President Richard Nixon, in an effort to exonerate his own administration, ordered his attorney general, Elliot Richardson, to move forward with an independent investigation of the emerging Watergate scandal. Richardson tapped Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox to investigate the Nixon administration’s role in the events. When Cox tried to force Nixon to turn over tape recordings of his conversations in the White House, Nixon ordered Richardson to fire him. Richardson refused. Nixon later fired both Richardson and his successor. On Sunday night, former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, who served from 2009 to 2015, referenced the famous political showdown in a tweet: > [](https://twitter.com/EricHolder/status/785294242721562624) In the wake of the Watergate scandal, Congress passed the 1977 Ethics in Government Act, which put the onus on the attorney general to review a case, conduct a preliminary investigation and consult a three-judge panel, which would then appoint an “independent counsel.” In the early 1990s, the Clinton administration revived the law, which was then used to appoint, among others, independent counsel Starr, whose investigation led to Clinton’s impeachment in 1998. The law authorizing judge-approved independent counsels lapsed in 1999\. Under current law, the U.S. attorney general has a fairly wide purview to appoint a special prosecutor if she believes a criminal investigation is warranted or if the U.S. Justice Department cannot conduct the investigation independently, according to the Center for Legal and Economic Studies. So while it would be legally possible for a President Trump to demand that his attorney general appoint a special prosecutor to investigate a former political opponent, it would be a first. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4524459/presidential-debate-donald-trump-special-prosecutor/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4524459/presidential-debate-donald-trump-special-prosecutor/"},"headline":"Why Donald Trump's Call for a Special Prosecutor Is Different","datePublished":"2016-10-10T04:29:24.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-07T06:50:09.150Z","description":"Donald Trump promised at the debate Sunday night that he would appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Hillary Clinton.","url":"https://time.com/4524459/presidential-debate-donald-trump-special-prosecutor/","keywords":["Debates","Hillary Clinton","2016 Election","Bill Clinton","Donald Trump"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt536907be5a3c9f55/6988a94ae20a872394a92b67/trump-clinton-debate-lede.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Haley Sweetland Edwards","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/haley-sweetland-edwards/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt536907be5a3c9f55/6988a94ae20a872394a92b67/trump-clinton-debate-lede.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"TIMEPOL","caption":"Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton stands next to Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at the second presidential debate at Washington University, Sunday, Oct. 9, 2016, in St. Louis. 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