Sen. Rand Paul on Sunday criticized the Clinton Foundation’s acceptance of foreign donations while Hillary Clinton served as secretary of state ahead of the official launch of Hillary’s presidential campaign.
The Kentucky Republican, who touched off his own White House bid this week, highlighted the decades-long trail of public scandals that has followed the former president and first lady in an interview with Dana Bash on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
“There are questions about them taking millions of dollars from Saudi Arabia,” Paul said, noting the Clinton Foundation accepted contributions from “countries that really have an abysmal human rights record.
“It makes it difficult for her message to appear sincere when she’s taken money from those foreign countries,” Paul said.
The first-term senator insisted he would not treat Hillary Clinton differently in debates simply because his opponent is a woman.
“I’m always polite. I don’t get out of control,” Paul said. “I would treat her with the same respect that I would treat a man.”
Scrutiny of donors to her family’s philanthropic organization is likely to intensify once Clinton is an official presidential candidate. Observers on both sides of the aisle have questioned the ethics of the nation’s top diplomat accepting high-dollar contributions from foreign governments and companies with a presumed interest in affecting U.S. policies.
