The Obama administration does not believe that a special prosecutor is necessary to investigate the Clinton Foundation, according to White House press secretary Josh Earnest.
He suggested that those who were calling for a special prosecutor were impugning the character of the F.B.I. and the Justice Department.
“I just think it’s hard for anybody to make a very persuasive case that somehow there hasn’t been enough investigating,” Earnest said during the White House press conference today.
President Barack Obama, he said, had “complete confidence” in the independent career prosecutors of the Justice Department and the F.B.I. He asserted that the investigations by both federal agencies were “thoroughly professional and unfettered by politics” and praised F.B.I. director James Comey’s investigative efforts.
But Earnest suggested that the media was right to investigate the story prior to the presidential election.
“I know that all of you are covering this story, as you should,” he said, adding that the American people would draw their own conclusions about Clinton’s actions.
But the White House did not appear willing to thoroughly defend Clinton’s actions either. During the press conference, Earnest said he didn’t have a “detailed understanding of the minutiae” that was involved in the questions surrounding Hillary Clinton’s relationship with the Clinton Foundation during her time as Secretary of State. He did mention, however, that Obama was “quite proud” of Clinton’s service to the United States.
Earnest defended the Obama administration’s memorandum of understanding signed by Clinton when she was brought into the Obama administration, pointing out that it went “above and beyond” what was required by law.
As Breitbart News editor Peter Schweizer has noted, Clinton “completely violated” that memo.
Josh Earnest: “..hard for anybody to make a very persuasive case that somehow there hasn’t been enough investigating” of Clinton Foundation
— Charlie Spiering (@charliespiering) August 24, 2016
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