The New York Times reporter assigned to cover Hillary Clinton said the Clinton Foundation’s response to months of damaging reports alleging organizational corruption will not hold.
"I don’t think the status quo will hold," Maggie Haberman said Monday on CNN.
Haberman said that after three years of failure to disclose foreign donations, the Clinton Foundation cannot simply excuse their scandals as bookkeeping oversights.
"Their defense on everything has been we are transparent," Haberman said. "We put it on the website. Everybody can see it. We keep hearing about actually this wasn't there and this wasn't there."
"So at a certain point, they are going to, I think, get pressed to do greater disclosures or to be more open or to invite people in to look at their books."
Political commentator Ryan Lizza said the apparent conflict of interest "was not an issue the press was invented."
"I think it raises questions about the Obama administration. Why are they not forcing this agreement?" Lizza asked.
New Day host Chris Cuomo criticized the Clintons’ defense as one more appropriate for criminal court, not the public engagement of politics.
"If it's about politics and trust, it’s about a semblance of impropriety," Cuomo said. "Something that smells bad is what you are supposed to avoid."
The Clinton Foundation is not Clinton’s only troubling storyline from the weekend. The New York Times reported Hillary Clinton’s brother, Tony Rodham, exploited his connection with his sister to pursue business ventures.
"His business dealings have often invited public scrutiny and uncomfortable questions for the Clintons as Mr. Rodham has cycled through a variety of ventures, leveraging his ties to them and sometimes directly seeking their help," Steve Eder, New York Times reporter, said.
Haberman cited the court cases referenced in Steve Eder’s report as problematic for the Clintons.
"That type of stuff is very unhelpful."