Donald Trump’s campaign released a new ad Thursday tying Hillary Clinton to disgraced former Rep. Anthony Weiner, whose sexting led to an FBI review of emails that could be potentially related to her private server.
The ad, titled “Unfit,” is rife with claims that are not yet borne out by facts that have been made public in the FBI’s new review of the emails.
For example, at one point the ad says, “America’s secrets and sensitive emails unlawfully sent, received and exposed by Hillary Clinton, her staff and Anthony Weiner.”
There is no evidence to support this claim.
“Decades of lies, cover-ups and scandal have finally caught up with Hillary Clinton. Hillary Clinton is under FBI investigation again,” the narrator says as the spot opens. “Her emails were found on pervert Anthony Weiner’s laptop. Think about that.”
The FBI told Congress last week it is reviewing emails from Clinton aide Abedin after finding them on a laptop belonging to Weiner, her estranged husband. The agency is investigating whether the former lawmaker had inappropriate sexual contact online with an underage girl.
The Clinton campaign has repeatedly criticized the FBI for announcing the review so close to the closing days of the 2016 race without providing many details. FBI Director James Comey has said that some emails could be “pertinent” to the bureau’s review of Clinton’s email server — an investigation that did not result in criminal charges over the summer — but the review is not expected to be completed by Election Day.
The spot, which the Trump campaign said is running nationally, ends by saying Clinton is “unfit to serve” as president because she is “crippled by a criminal investigation,” but the FBI has not said Clinton herself is the subject of an investigation.
The Trump campaign also released a statement saying Clinton’s latest scandal has kept her from focusing on the issues that matter most to voters.
“While Mr. Trump has spent the closing weeks of this campaign drawing huge crowds of Americans hungry for a common sense change agent who will bring our jobs back and strengthen our borders, Crooked Hillary Clinton has been busy living in an alternate reality where her litany of email scandals and FBI investigations don’t disqualify her from running for President,” said Jason Miller, the campaign’s senior communications adviser.
