Republican Candidates to Hound Hillary Over Clinton Foundation Allegations

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — US Republican presidential candidates will try to keep the story of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s acceptance of foreign government donations to the Clinton Foundation alive as long as possible to benefit from the momentum the criticism brings to their respective campaigns, experts told Sputnik.

“The other campaigns will jump on it, and stay on it,” University of Miami Communication Professor Thomas Steinfatt said on Monday.

Steinfatt explained that Clinton should let the issue go for a while, and then have a source outside her campaign call it old news, questioning why others are not putting out their problems and plans honestly, as Clinton is doing.

Steinfatt said if the situation does not affect how much money Clinton is raising, she should just admit the donations were a mistake.

“It is better to release everything negative at once,” Steinfatt concluded. “Do not let these dribble out over time or be ‘discovered’ by others.”

On April 23, 2015, it was revealed the Clinton Foundation received donations from former Toronto-based Uranium Ore Chairperson Ian Telfer in order to allegedly fast track the approval by then Secretary of State Clinton for the sale of the $610 million majority stake to Russian state nuclear energy corporation Rosatom.

But, Harvard College Public Policy Lecturer Richard Parker told Sputnik that Republicans will stick with the story for as long as they can gain politically.

“Republicans will probably want to clamor on this [Clinton Foundation Allegations] given their suspicions of the Internal Revenue Service,” Parker said on Monday.

Parker explained that given the number and colorfulness of the Republican candidates, the Clinton Foundation Allegations story could become a two to five day story.

“The ability to keep a story like Fast and Furious or Benghazi alive is a question of longevity in the public mind,” Parker said. “How long does it stay alive in the press? Can the press turn up further evidence to elongate this?”

Parker also said he believes Clinton will argue the Foundation’s alleged disparities were an administrative oversight.

“If you look into the number of errors that creep in these reports, it’s probably above her [Clinton’s] paygrade,” Parker said. “She probably doesn’t review IRS findings of the Clinton Foundation.”

Moreover, Parker argued an assistant bookkeeper or someone in the Clinton Foundation that prepared the reports will need to come forward for the story to continue on in the public consciousness.

With the media primary, donor primary and opinion primary all at play currently in the 2016 election cycle, Parker said the long term impact on Clinton’s campaign will still need to play itself out.

“Within each of these groups [primaries], you would have to have an insurgency in one of them pointing to Clinton a nonviable candidate,” Parker concluded.

Clinton was the 67th US Secretary of State and served in that position from January 21, 2009 to February 1, 2013. Previously, Clinton was a US Senator from New York from January 3, 2001 until January 21, 2009.