Presidential races

Giuliani cites ‘deep and disturbing issues’ in Clinton pardon

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani says President Obama should not pardon Hillary Clinton for any crimes she may have committed before he leaves office.

“There are deep and disturbing issues there,” Giuliani, a top Donald Trump adviser and former federal prosecutor, said Thursday on Fox News’s “Fox & Friends,” citing the Clinton Foundation.

{mosads}“That’s why I don’t think President Obama should pardon her,” Giuliani added. “I think President Obama should leave it to the system that we all believe in to determine is she innocent or is she guilty?”

Giuliani added that declining to probe the Clinton Foundation’s questionable finances could set a poor precedent for similar investigations.

“It’s hard to investigate other people,” said Giuliani.

“What do you say to a foundation where you have a fraud of $50,000 when you haven’t looked at a foundation of where there is an alleged fraud in the millions or hundreds of millions of dollars? Now, it may be true that it’s not true. But it hasn’t been investigated.”

The White House on Wednesday refused to rule out the possibility that Obama would pardon Clinton to prevent Trump from prosecuting her when he takes office.

Obama spokesman Josh Earnest added the president is hopeful Trump will honor the longstanding tradition of not using the criminal-justice system for revenge on political opponents.

During a presidential debate, Trump last month threatened to jail his Democratic opponent over potential wrongdoing when Clinton used a private email server while secretary of State.

The billionaire struck a softer tone in his victory speech early Wednesday, however, noting Americans owe Clinton “a major debt for her service to our country.”