President Donald Trump ordered top Justice Department officials to prosecute Hillary Clinton to the fullest extent of the law, according to a report by CNN.
Trump raised the issue with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and Matt Whitaker, who was chief of staff to then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
“The President also wanted his previous White House counsel, Don McGahn, to ask the Justice Department to prosecute Clinton on numerous occasions, but McGahn rebuffed doing that,” CNN reports.
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Express.co.uk reports: In anticipation of his Clinton related questions, Mr Whitaker brought information about the investigation with him when meeting with the President, but did not cross any lines with the information that he disclosed. Josh Campbell, who previously worked as an aide to former FBI director James Comey, told CNN that Mr Comey was dismayed at the reports about Trump wanting to have him prosecuted.
He said: “This is what had him worried then. This is what he’s been so vocal about now and speaking out.”
Last March, former Attorney General Jeff Sessions revealed that John Huber, Utah’s top federal prosecutor, was investigating possible abuses of power by the FBI when it surveilled a former Trump campaign advisor and claimed that there should have been more done to investigate Mrs Clinton’s possible connections to a Russian nuclear energy agency.
In January, CNN reported that the Arkansas attorney and FBI were investigating possible corruption within the Clinton Foundation.
The investigation centred around whether or not donors were promised favours or special access to Mrs Clinton during her time as Secretary of State in exchange for donations.
They were also looking into if any tax-exempt funds were misused.
Mr McGahn’s lawyer William Burck said: “Mr McGahn will not comment on his legal advice to the president.
“Like any client, the president is entitled to confidentiality. Mr McGahn would point out, though, that the president never, to his knowledge, ordered that anyone prosecute Hillary Clinton or James Comey.”
When Trump asked Mr McGahn in April to order the prosecution, he told the President that he could not order the Justice Department to prosecute anyone and that by even requesting it could be going too far.
Mr McGahn had White House lawyers write a memo explaining the possible consequences for doing this.
Trump has repeatedly called for Mrs Clinton to be prosecuted for her use of a private email account while she worked in the White House and has also accused Mr Comey of leaking classified material.
Mr McGahn left the White House in October amid frictions with the President.
Following the firing of Mr Sessions this month, Mr Whitaker was chosen to work as acting attorney general over Mr Rosenstein.
Democrats have opposed this action due to previous comments by Mr Whitaker that criticised Robert Mueller and his investigation.
During his campaign, Trump said that he would have the Justice Department investigate Mrs Clinton, but has repeatedly criticised the department for investigating his associates rather than political opponents.
Sean Adl-Tabatabai
Have to call BULLSHIT on this…… Trump hasn’t done that….. hes not allowed to do that.. everybody knows it….
Big difference between being fired and resigning. Why can’t the reporters get their facts straight.