Clinton: Am past fresh accusations

Trump video paints her as prejudiced

Sen. Tim Kaine, the Democratic vice presidential candidate, greets supporters after speaking Friday at Florida A&M University in Tallahassee.
Sen. Tim Kaine, the Democratic vice presidential candidate, greets supporters after speaking Friday at Florida A&M University in Tallahassee.

NEW YORK -- Hillary Clinton defended her family's foundation Friday against Donald Trump's criticism and declared that she's confident there will be no new major accusations regarding the foundation, her emails or anything else ahead of November's election.

She said the private Clinton Foundation's charitable programs would continue if she's elected, even as Trump and other critics argue that the programs would present a conflict of interest.

In an interview on MSNBC's Morning Joe, the Democratic presidential nominee kept up her verbal assault on Trump's campaign, asserting that it is built on "prejudice and paranoia" and caters to a radical fringe of the Republican Party.

Clinton is looking to counter Trump's attempts to win over moderate voters who have been unsettled by his controversial remarks and policy proposals. In the meantime, he has been softening his tone on immigration and reaching out to black voters, a traditional Democratic constituency.

Clinton is also targeting moderate voters -- especially Republicans -- by depicting Trump and his supporters as extremists and casting the race as "not a normal choice between a Republican and a Democrat." She has contrasted Trump with former Republican presidential candidates John McCain, Bob Dole and former President George W. Bush, praising their decisive steps to counter racial bias and anti-Muslim sentiment.

In turn, Trump is trying to paint Clinton as the one who is prejudiced.

He has released an online video that includes footage of the former first lady referring to some young criminals as "super predators" in the 1990s. The video also shows Clinton's former Democratic rival, Bernie Sanders, denouncing the phrase as "a racist term." Clinton has since apologized for using the term.

Trump tweeted Friday: "How quickly people forget that Crooked Hillary called African-American youth "SUPER PREDATORS" -- Has she apologized?"

Trump also says Clinton is trying to distract from questions swirling around donations to the Clinton Foundation and her exclusive use of her private email servers for official business while she was secretary of state. On Friday, he also continued his recent push to broaden his base of support among minority voters, convening a roundtable with Latino backers at his hotel in Las Vegas.

But his new outreach comes amid his own mixed signals on his immigration plan, including whether or not he would stick with a primary campaign promise to deport 11 million immigrants living in the United States illegally.

In her phone interview, Clinton was asked if she was certain there are no emails or foundation ties to foreign entities that would affect her presidential prospects. She replied, "I am sure," and mentioned her strong understanding about the foundation's work.

"When you're secretary of state compared to president, it does require greater efforts, and that's why we are moving from where I think we appropriately were when I was secretary to what the new responsibilities would be as president," she said, adding, "I will put out the entirety of my record" and "I will do my best to answer" questions.

This week, the State Department said it is reviewing nearly 15,000 previously undisclosed emails recovered as part of an FBI inquiry that did not result in charges concerning Clinton's use of a private server. The messages could become public in mid-October.

The State Department also said Friday that it doesn't expect to publicly produce before Election Day all of the detailed daily schedules showing meetings by Clinton during her time as secretary of state.

The agency said it expects to release the last of the files around Dec. 30. The Associated Press' lawyers asked the department late Friday to hasten its efforts and provide all of her minute-by-minute schedules by Oct. 15. The department did not immediately respond.

Also this week, The Associated Press reported that more than half of the people from outside government who met or spoke by telephone with Clinton in the first half of her term as secretary of state had given money -- either personally or through companies or groups -- to the foundation. The analysis focused on people with private interests and excluded her meetings or calls with federal employees or foreign government representatives.

Former President Bill Clinton said last week that if Hillary Clinton is elected president, the foundation will no longer accept foreign or corporate donations. He also said he would step down from its board and would no longer raise money for the organization. Their daughter, Chelsea Clinton, will remain on the board to oversee changes on donation policy and move some of the charity's work to other organizations.

On Friday, Hillary Clinton promised to put in place additional safeguards to prevent conflicts of interest with the foundation should she win the White House.

"I appreciate the concerns that people have expressed, and that's why I have made it clear that if I'm successful in November, we are going to be taking additional steps," she said. The foundation's charitable programs, she said, have been "in line with American interests and values" and must continue, perhaps through partnerships with other organizations.

"My work as secretary of state was not influenced by any outside forces," Clinton said. "I made policy decisions based on what I thought was right to keep America safe and protect our interests abroad. I believe my aides also acted appropriately."

Clinton said it's a "fair question" to ask why the Clinton Foundation doesn't just turn all of its work over to another major philanthropic organization with global reach, such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. She said her family's foundation is seeking "partners" to take over some programs.

At the same time, Clinton said, "winding down some of these programs takes time" and that to do anything abrupt could imperil HIV/AIDS programs and other assistance that benefits millions of people around the world. "The work has been not only transformational" but also "in line with American interests and values" she said, and the foundation will do "everything we can to make sure that good work continues."

Alternative-right

Clinton accused Trump on Thursday of fanning the flames of the "alt-right," a term that refers to far-right-wingers.

For the alternative-right leaders, the attention from the Democratic presidential nominee was a moment in the political spotlight that offered a new level of credibility.

Jared Taylor, editor of the white nationalist publication American Renaissance, live-tweeted Clinton's remarks, questioning her praise of establishment Republicans and anticipating her discussion of his community.

"Come on, Hillary," he wrote. "Talk about Alt Right."

Other white nationalists mocked Clinton, saying she sounded like a neoconservative and a "grandma," while also welcoming the publicity.

Trump has kept his distance from the alternative-right, but his critics have accused him of offering subtle cues to invite its support. His appointment of Stephen Bannon, the head of Breitbart News, to be chief executive of his campaign was cheered by alternative-right members who are readers of the Breitbart website.

The alternative-right says it supports the preservation of white culture in the United States, and many of its members want to see an overhaul of the political system. Its views are seen by many as white supremacist and anti-Semitic.

Many who align themselves with alternative-right philosophies say they do not subscribe to all of Trump's policies but that electing him would be a step in the right direction because of his "America First" worldview and his hard line on immigration. This week, some expressed disappointment that Trump appeared to be softening his tone on deporting people who are in the country illegally.

Richard Spencer, the president of the white-nationalist National Policy Institute, who is credited with coming up with the name "alt-right," pushed back against claims that the group promotes violence and said in a statement that there was a double standard at play.

"While Hillary & Co. condemn the alt-right -- nonviolent activists seeking social change, largely through a vibrant Internet presence -- she allows noted supporters of terror to attend her rallies and has never once disavowed the actions of domestic terrorists associated with Black Lives Matter," Spencer said.

Richard Cohen, the president of the Southern Poverty Law Center, a nonprofit legal group that specializes in civil-rights litigation, dismissed the idea that Clinton was doing the public a disservice by drawing attention to the alternative-right.

"I think every public official ought to denounce racism, and that is what Secretary Clinton did," Cohen said, noting that the alternative-right ideology opposes the notion that all people are equal.

Information for this article was contributed by Lisa Lerer, Ken Thomas, Jill Colvin and Jonathan Lemire of The Associated Press; by Margaret Talev, Ben Brody and Andrew Harris of Bloomberg News; and by Alan Rappeport of The New York Times.

A Section on 08/27/2016

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