Trump raises specter of crisis if Clinton
wins the White House
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[November 01, 2016]
By Steve Holland and Roberta Rampton
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich./KENT, Ohio (Reuters) -
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump called Democratic rival
Hillary Clinton a threat to the country on Monday, saying that if she is
elected a probe into her emails could shadow her entire term in office,
as the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll showed Clinton's lead narrowing
slightly.
"The investigation will last for years. The trial will probably start,"
Trump told a rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan. "Nothing will get done. I
can tell you, your jobs will continue to leave Michigan. Nothing’s going
to get done.”
The Federal Bureau of Investigation on Friday said it was investigating
newly discovered emails that might relate to Clinton's use of a private
email server when she was secretary of state.
Clinton on Monday again said she was confident that the FBI would not
find anything problematic in her emails and would reach the same
conclusion they did earlier this year.
"It wasn't even a close call," she said at a rally in Cincinnati, Ohio,
of the FBI investigation.
But just eight days ahead of the election - a time when candidates
typically feel that the hard work of the campaign is behind them - both
Clinton and Trump have ratcheted up their attacks on the other's
character and fitness for office.
Clinton, who had been riding high in opinion polls in recent weeks as
Trump was hit by fallout from the release of a 2005 video in which he
bragged in vulgar terms of groping women, now finds herself on the
defensive.
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Trump is hoping to convince voters that electing Clinton would prompt "a
constitutional crisis that we cannot afford," as her emails would be
subject to years of controversy, in the wake of the FBI's announcement
on Friday that it continues to investigate material possibly related to
her emails.
Clinton on Monday continued to level attacks against Trump's ability to
control nuclear weapons.
"I am running against someone who says he doesn't understand why we
can't use nuclear weapons," she said in Cincinnati. "He wants more
countries to have nuclear weapons.
"I wonder if he even knows that a single nuclear warhead can kill
millions of people," she added.
Little is publicly known yet about the emails being investigated, other
than that they were found during an unrelated probe into the estranged
husband of a top Clinton aide.
FBI Director James Comey told members of Congress on Friday the agency
was probing more emails that might relate to Clinton's use of a private
email server, but added, "We don't know the significance of this newly
discovered collection of emails."
Trump, who has repeatedly referred to Clinton as "corrupt Hillary," on
Monday said the email probe shows what a poor role model she is -
seemingly trying to turn the tables on Clinton, who has assailed his
character over disclosures of vulgar comments he made about groping
women.
"I want to tell you, she is a terrible example for my son and the
children of this country,” he said in Warren, Michigan, mentioning his
youngest son, Barron. “Hillary is the one who broke the law over and
over and over again.”
(For graphic on race to the White House, click http://tmsnrt.rs/298mTyD)
CLINTON HOLDS NARROW LEAD
Until the Friday revelation, Clinton had been coasting with a
comfortable lead over Trump.
Opinion polls now shows Clinton's lead over Trump has narrowed slightly
since early last week. It is not yet known if the email controversy will
hurt her support. Millions of Americans have already cast their ballot
in early voting.
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Donald Trump appears at a campaign rally in Warren, Michigan.
REUTERS/Carlo Allegri
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Clinton holds a 5 point lead over Trump in the latest Reuters/Ipsos
poll, receiving 44 percent of likely voters compared to Trump at 39
percent.
Despite the controversy about her email, Clinton continues to hold a
large advantage in the Electoral College, the process that selects a
president by awarding votes through individual state elections.
Clinton holds leads in several key swing states, including
Pennsylvania and New Hampshire, where Trump must erode a large lead
to be victorious.
'EXPLOSIVE'
The FBI spent a year investigating Clinton's use of a private email
server, instead of government systems, while she was secretary of
state from 2009 to 2013. Comey concluded in July that while Clinton
and her staff had been "extremely careless" in handling classified
information there were no grounds for any charges.
Comey, roundly criticized by Republicans for his decision not to
recommend charges against Clinton at the end of the FBI probe in
July, has now drawn the ire of senior Democrats. U.S. Senator Harry
Reid, the Democratic leader in the Senate, accused him of "a
disturbing double standard for the treatment of sensitive
information, with what appears to be a clear intent to aid one
political party over another."
He said, without providing evidence, that the FBI was keeping
“explosive information” under wraps about ties between the Trump
campaign and Russian officials.
Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook called reports that the FBI
would not discuss whether the Russian government was behind the
hacking of Democratic email accounts because it was too close to the
election "a blatant double standard."
In an August letter, Reid asked Comey to investigate whether Trump
allies have worked with the Kremlin to influence the election,
citing reports that a foreign-policy adviser had met with Putin
allies on a July trip to Moscow and longtime Republican operative
Roger Stone had been in touch with WikiLeaks.
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The White House steered clear on Monday of direct criticism of
Comey, who was appointed by Democratic President Barack Obama in
2013. Obama views the FBI head as a man of integrity and does not
believe he is secretly trying to influence the outcome of the
election, White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters.
(Additional reporting by Doina Chiacu, Julia Harte, Susan Heavey,
Richard Cowan and Mark Hosenball in Washington and Jonathan Allen in
New York.; Writing by Ginger Gibson and Frances Kerry; Editing by
Leslie Adler)
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