Trump Calls for 'Expedited Investigation by Special Prosecutor' Into Clinton's Time at the State Dept

Donald Trump, not trusting the FBI and Justice Department probes into Hillary Clinton, is calling for an "expedited investigation by a special prosecutor" into the Democratic presidential nominee's time at the State Department.

As stories surrounding Clinton's use of a private email server and the State Department's ties to the Clinton Foundation continue to make headlines, voters remain skeptical of the former secretary of state, and Trump is capitalizing on it. The billionaire businessman spent the majority of his speech in Akron, Ohio, Monday night slamming his Democratic rival.

Alex Wong/Getty Images

"Her actions corrupted and disgraced one of the most important departments of government, indeed one of the four established by the United States Constitution itself," Trump said.

He told the large crowd of supporters he is "increasingly shocked by the vast scope of Hillary Clinton's criminality." In response, rallygoers began chanting the familiar refrain, "Lock her up, lock her up."

The Republican presidential nominee went on to call out the Clintons for making the State Department "into the same kind of pay-to-play operation the Arkansas government was: pay the Clinton Foundation huge sums of money and throw in some big speaking fees for Bill Clinton and you got to play with the State Department."

"The amounts involved, the favors done and the significant numbers of times it was done require an expedited investigation by a special prosecutor," Trump continued. "After the FBI and Department of Justice whitewash of the Clinton email crimes, they certainly cannot be trusted to quickly or impartially investigate Hillary Clinton's crimes."

Trump, who is trailing Clinton by roughly five points according to the latest Real Clear Politics average, is pouncing on the opportunity to attack the former secretary of state. A Washington Post/ABC News poll earlier this month showed 59 percent of voters believe Clinton is not honest and trustworthy.

The same poll shows 62 percent of voters believe Trump is not trustworthy.

The Republican nominee has also been going after Clinton for taking time off the campaign trail to attend big-dollar campaign fundraisers in California. Late last week, Trump took to Twitter to hit Clinton with the hashtag #WheresHillary, suggesting the Democratic nominee is "sleeping."

Trump's call for an investigation comes the same day a federal judge ordered the State Department to fast-track a review of nearly 15,000 "previously undisclosed" emails from Clinton's private email server.

Lawyers at the State Department told U.S. District Court Judge James E. Boasberg Monday they "anticipate processing and releasing the first batch of these new emails in mid-October," just ahead of the November general election, which raises some concerns the revelation could impact the outcome of the race.

Not long after appointing new campaign leadership, Trump was expected to deliver a speech on immigration this week, but that address has been postponed, according to a source close to the campaign. Instead, Trump and his running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, are focusing on Clinton and the embattled Clinton Foundation.

"It's time for Hillary Clinton to come clean about the Clinton Foundation," Pence said at a rally in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Last week, the Clinton Foundation announced it would suspend foreign and corporate donations should Clinton win the presidential election this fall. Pence questioned why that was not the case when she was serving in the State Department.

"Apparently she'll have a conflict of interest with the Clinton Foundation if she becomes president, but I guess she didn't have a conflict of interest taking foreign donations while she was secretary of state of the United States of America," he said.

–

Follow the author of this story on Twitter:

Follow @tregp