Cotton: Clinton Foundation having ‘fire sale’ for access

by Jordain Carney - 08/23/16 1:46 PM ET

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) on Tuesday slammed the Clinton Foundation for waiting until after the election to potentially stop accepting foreign donations, saying the move amounts to a “fire sale” for access.

“They’re having a fire sale at the Clinton Foundation for White House access,” Cotton told radio host Hugh Hewitt. “So all of those oligarchs all around the world are worried about fulfilling their life’s work of eradicating disease and poverty need to get their money in now.”

{mosads}Former President Bill Clinton told staff last week that the foundation would stop accepting foreign and corporate donations if Hillary Clinton, the Democratic presidential nominee, wins in November.

The move has brought criticism from Republicans, who argue the organization should cut off foreign donors immediately or shouldn’t have accepted them to begin with.

Cotton added Tuesday that the Clintons “should immediately suspend all donations to the Clinton Foundation from foreign governments and from corporations.”

“They said they will if she wins. But that’s really just an alarm bell for all those people to send in their money right now if they want to buy access in a future Clinton White House,” he said.

Robby Mook, Clinton’s campaign manager, defended the timeline, telling CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday that the foundation is “doing an enormous amount of work.”

“They receive a great deal of funding through these streams. And it will just take some time for them to readjust,” he added.

Clinton’s comments come as Republicans have seized on a steady stream of emails released by Judicial Watch, which they argue show an inappropriate connection between Clinton’s State Department and the foundation.

In an 2009 email released Monday as part of 725 pages of State Department documents, top Clinton aide Huma Abedin coordinated with Clinton Foundation executive Doug Band to arrange a meeting between Clinton and Crown Prince Salman of Bahrain, which was requested by the crown prince.

Republicans are also demanding that the Department of Justice probe the foundation. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), an early supporter of Donald Trump, told CNN’s “New Day” on Tuesday that it “should be fully investigated.”

Tags Bill Clinton Donald Trump Hillary Clinton Jeff Sessions Tom Cotton