An ethics watchdog group argued that Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is “in a league of her own” when it comes to ethics violations, and therefore reserved a separate category for her outside of its list of the top seven offenders of 2015.
The Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust cited four examples of ethics violations it said Clinton committed this year alone when explaining its decision to exclude Clinton from its rankings of the “top congressional and campaign ethics violators of 2015,” a list the group made public Tuesday.
“During her time as secretary of state, overwhelming evidence shows, primarily through the State Department’s release of her emails, that she abused her official position,” FACT wrote of Clinton. “Since becoming a presidential candidate, she has on numerous occasions violated campaign and ethics laws.”
The ethics watchdog pointed to an email suggesting Clinton intervened in an international business request sent by her son-in-law while she served as the nation’s chief diplomat.
FACT also highlighted the Clinton Foundation’s $350,000 payment to Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign, which came in the form of a rental fee for the campaign’s email list. Matthew Whitaker, the group’s executive director, asked the Internal Revenue Service to investigate the payment in October.
Rep. Alan Grayson topped the watchdog’s list of offenders for complaints that he violated House ethics rules barring members from personally managing hedge funds that bear their name and had funds based in the Cayman Islands.
The list also included Rep. Mark Meadows, who paid a staffer for months after firing him in a move that seemingly flouted House rules, and Rep. Frank Guinta, who faced Federal Election Commission fines after accepting a campaign loan from his parents worth more than $350,000.
