Donald Trump’s campaign on Saturday sought donations by repeating his threat to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Hillary Clinton over her email practices at the State Department.
Trump’s vow to investigate his political opponent if elected — a threat that is unprecedented in modern US political history and outrageous even by the standards of the 2016 campaign — has been made before on the campaign trail, most recently at Sunday’s debate. The fundraising appeal also came hours after he again called into question the validity of the election system, calling it “rigged” against him.
“As I promised on Sunday, if elected I will appoint a special prosecutor to look into Crooked Hillary’s emails and get the answers the American people deserve,” Trump wrote.
He again cited his argument that Clinton is the “ultimate career politician, enriching herself off of the rigged system for decades while getting NOTHING accomplished.”
When Trump brought up the threat at Sunday’s debate, Clinton responded, “It’s just awfully good that someone with the temperament of Donald Trump is not in charge of the law in our country.”
To which Trump replied, “Because you’d be in jail.”
The Department of Justice, acting on an FBI recommendation, declined to press criminal charges against Clinton regarding the matter over the summer.
Earlier Saturday, Trump continued to claim that the election is “rigged” against him, citing the sexual assault charges that have embroiled his campaign.
“100% fabricated and made-up charges, pushed strongly by the media and the Clinton Campaign, may poison the minds of the American Voter. FIX!” Trump tweeted.
He followed up: “This election is being rigged by the media pushing false and unsubstantiated charges, and outright lies, in order to elect Crooked Hillary!”
And again: “Hillary Clinton should have been prosecuted and should be in jail. Instead she is running for president in what looks like a rigged election.”
Trump has warned of a “rigged” election for months. He said in North Carolina Friday that “the whole thing is one big fix” and, railing against the sexual assault allegations, said he was the “victim” of a “political smear campaign.”
But his comments come as his campaign has urged him to focus on issues and Clinton, particularly in the wake of politically damaging WikiLeaks releases, with just over three weeks to go before Election Day. Trump’s poll numbers have been declining since the first presidential debate late last month, and his polling troubles accelerated with the surfacing of a 2005 tape last week in which Trump bragged about being able to grope women and get away with it.
This week, multiple women have alleged Trump touched them without their consent. Trump has vehemently denied the charges.