The State Departmentâs inspector general last year subpoenaed the Clinton Foundation for documents related to work that required approval from the Hillary Clinton State Department, making it now at least four investigations involving the Democratic presidential candidate being conducted by federal agencies.
According to The Washington Post, the State Department inspector generalâs subpoena, which was filed in the fall, also sought records related to longtime Clinton aide Huma Abedinâs concurrent employment in 2012 with the State Department, the Clinton Foundation, and Teneo Holdings, a Clinton-connected consulting firm.
Clintonâs critics have asserted that the overlap between the State Department, her familyâs foundation, and Teneo during her tenure created potential conflicts of interest. The book âClinton Cash,â which was released last year, laid out numerous examples of the Clinton Foundationâs wealthy donors gaining special access to Clintonâs State Department. Other examples have emerged from the release of Clintonâs State Department emails.
The newly revealed IG probe is in addition to the FBIâs investigation of Clintonâs private email server. That probe began last summer after the Intelligence Communityâs inspector general discovered âtop secretâ emails among Clintonâs records. It also comes on top of the State Departmentâs investigation of Clintonâs emails. And as Fox News reported last month, the FBI also opened an investigation last year into whether the State Department provided special access and agency contracts to Clinton Foundation donors. (RELATED: Report: FBI Now Investigating Hillaryâs State Department For Corruption)
Several congressional committees are also conducting investigations on matters related to Clintonâs email arrangement. The Senate Judiciary Committee and Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee are conducting investigations of their own. The House Science, Space and Technology Committee has also opened an investigation into the companies that provided technology services to maintain Clintonâs email server.
According to The Post, IG investigators subpoenaed the Clinton Foundation last fall for âdocuments about the charityâs projects that may have required approval from the federal government during Hillary Clintonâs term as secretary of state.â
The subpoena also sought records related to Abedin, who held the title of âspecial government employeeâ at the State Department for the last half of 2012.
Stateâs IG previously investigated Abedin and determined last year that she was overpaid $10,000 on sick leave and maternity leave claims.
It is unclear whether the Clinton Foundation or anyone else associated with Clinton was subpoenaed in that matter.
Though the Clinton Foundation downplayed the IGâs investigation in a comment to The Post, Clintonâs Republican opponents jumped on the news of the report.
âAfter living at the intersection of money and politics for the last quarter century, the chickens are coming home to roost for the Clintons. Itâs this constant blurring of ethical lines that has so badly damaged Secretary Clinton on the issues of honesty and trust,â said Jeff Bechdel, communications director for America Rising PAC.