Presidential races

Trump seizes on leaked memo to blast ‘corrupt’ Clinton World

by Lisa Hagen

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump on Thursday jumped on a leaked memo revealing the interplay between the Clinton Foundation and the Clinton family’s business interests, calling the revelations “outright corrupt.”

{mosads}At a rally in Springfield, Ohio, Trump addressed a 12-page internal memo leaked Thursday by WikiLeaks and penned by Clinton confidante Doug Band outlining his “unorthodox” dual role within Clinton World. Band was principal for Teneo, a private consulting firm tasked with raising millions for the Clinton Foundation, while also helping former President Bill Clinton with for-profit opportunities.

“The more emails Wikileaks releases, the more lines between the Clinton Foundation, her State Department and Clinton’s personal businesses, they all get blurred,” Trump said.

“We read about Clinton confidant Doug Band bragging he had funneled tens of millions of dollars to Bill Clinton Inc. through the foundation donations, paid speeches and consulting contracts. Mr. Band called the arrangement ‘unorthodox.’ The rest of us call it outright corrupt.”
 
Trump’s campaign sent out a statement after the rally that reiterated his criticisms of the interplay revealed in the memo.

Trump has repeatedly accused Hillary Clinton of “pay-to-play” schemes while serving as secretary of State, alleging she gave access to foreign governments and corporations who donated to the Clinton Foundation.

Clinton’s campaign has denied Trump’s allegations. A spokesman for the Democratic nominee declined to comment on the Band memo.

Ohio is one of the few battleground states where Trump is narrowly leading. The RealClearPolitics polling average has him with a razor-thin edge of 1 point.

Presidential races