Donald Trump reprises campaign attacks against former rival Hillary Clinton declaring her 'guilty as hell'
Updated
US President-elect Donald Trump has reprised his election campaign attacks on Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, declaring her "guilty as hell" and deriding her supporters' criticism of how the FBI handled an investigation into her emails.
Key points:
- The US Justice Department is investigating the actions of the FBI in influencing the election
- Donald Trump has repeatedly vowed to prosecute Hillary Clinton for her use of a personal email server
- Further questions are raised over the Trump team's communication with Russian officials
The US Justice Department said on Thursday it would investigate an FBI decision to announce an inquiry into Mrs Clinton's emails shortly before the November 8 election, a move she has blamed as a factor in her defeat.
"What are Hillary Clinton's people complaining about with respect to the FBI. Based on the information they had, she should never have been allowed to run — guilty as hell," Mr Trump tweeted.
"They were VERY nice to her. She lost because she campaigned in the wrong states — no enthusiasm!"
Mr Trump often led crowds in chants of "lock her up!" during the 2016 election campaign, accusing Mrs Clinton of illegal conduct over her use of a private email server for official correspondence while she was secretary of state under President Barack Obama.
In a debate in October, the Republican real estate developer vowed Mrs Clinton would "be in jail" over the matter if he became president, but later said he would not pursue prosecution.
Some of the Clinton emails were determined to contain classified information, and the FBI ultimately decided not to refer her case for prosecution.
The Democrats said FBI Director James Comey's announcement of the new inquiry into the emails damaged her standing with voters right before the election, and he faced complaints that his moves were politically motivated.
Brian Fallon, Mrs Clinton's spokesman, told MSNBC on Thursday that Mr Comey's actions "cried out for an independent review".
Senator Dick Durbin, the number two Democrat in the US Senate, said Mr Comey's statements were not "fair, professional or consistent with the policies of the Federal Bureau of Investigation".
Mr Comey said the FBI would cooperate fully with the investigation.
Mr Trump, who will be sworn in on January 20, will not have the power to dismiss the investigation.
Federal law permits US presidents to dismiss inspectors general for federal agencies, as long as the president provides Congress a written justification for the removal 30 days in advance.
Further questions on Russia's involvement
The comments came as it was revealed that Mr Trump's pick for national security adviser, Michael Flynn, held multiple phone conversations with Russia's ambassador to Washington on the day the US announced "retaliation" for Moscow's interference in the presidential election.
The conversations appear to raise further questions about contacts between Mr Trump's advisers and Russian officials at a time when US intelligence agencies contend that Moscow waged a multifaceted campaign of hacking and other actions to boost Mr Trump's election chances over Mrs Clinton.
On December 29, Mr Obama ordered the expulsion of 35 Russian suspected spies and imposed sanctions on two Russian intelligence agencies over their involvement in hacking US political groups in the 2016 election.
Whether Mr Flynn and Russian ambassador Sergei Kislyak discussed those sanctions is unclear.
An 18th-century US law, the Logan Act, bars unauthorised citizens from negotiating with foreign governments that are in disputes with the United States.
A Trump spokesman said Mr Flynn took a call from the Russian ambassador last month, and discussed setting up a call between the President-elect and Russian President Vladimir Putin after Mr Trump's inauguration.
"The call centred around the logistics of setting up a call with the President of Russia and the President-elect after he was sworn in and they exchanged logistical information on how to initiate and schedule that call. That was it, plain and simple," spokesman Sean Spicer said.
Reuters
Topics: us-elections, government-and-politics, united-states
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