Donald Trump hits Hillary Clinton on foundation donor ties with State Department

Donald Trump skewered Hillary Clinton on the latest revelations about the Clinton Foundation, after the Associated Press found that more than half of people with private interests that met with Clinton while she was the nation’s top diplomat at the U.S. State Department also donated money to the Clinton Foundation

“This is out of control, what’s going on with our country,” Trump said in an interview with Fox News’ Ainsley Earhardt taped Tuesday night.

Asked why he was calling for a special prosecutor to investigate the connection between the Clinton Foundation and the State Department, Trump responded: ”From the standpoint of justice and, you know, what’s supposed to be happening, and law and order. And you look at all of these acts. She’s 100 percent guilty. Everybody knows she’s guilty, she knows she’s guilty. She’s lied all over the place and it’s almost as if she can do whatever she wants to do. I think it’s so unfair. It’s so bad for our country.”

Addressing the meetings between donors and the then-secretary of state, Trump added that “these people aren’t here to say ‘gee, it’s a wonderful day, the weather is beautiful.’”

Clinton’s philanthropic organization has drawn increasing scrutiny over the past several weeks, as emails and documents have revealed a closer relationship between its officials and the Clinton-run State Department than the Democratic nominee has previously led the public to believe.

An AP report published Tuesday showed dozens of the 154 non-government-affiliated people who met or spoke in phone conversations with then-secretary Clinton directly also gave money to her foundation, either personally or through companies or groups. At least 85 donors contributed as much as $156 million to the Clinton’s charitable organization, with at least 40 giving more than $100,000 each, and 20 donating more than $1 million.

In his Fox News interview, the GOP nominee went on to insinuate that the gatherings could have influenced U.S. foreign policy.

“All these people,” Trump said. “First of all, they’re not supposed to be setting up meetings, and when they set up the meetings -- take a look at what’s happening.”

“Take a look at what is happening, whether it’s Bahrain or wherever it may be,” he said. “They get a lot of things for this. Those meeting didn’t take place to say hello.”

“You just follow up those meetings and things – whether it’s planes or missiles, or maybe something personal,” he added. “A lot of things happen from those meetings.”

For their part, Clinton’s campaign has denied that the meetings had a quid-pro-quo tinge or were improperly scheduled.

“It is outrageous to misrepresent Secretary Clinton’s basis for meeting with these individuals,” spokesman Brian Fallon said of the Associated Press analysis. He called it “a distorted portrayal of how often she crossed paths with individuals connected to charitable donations to the Clinton Foundation.”

Fallon took a direct shot at Trump in a tweet Tuesday evening, noting that the billionaire himself had given money to the foundation in the past: 

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