CNN's John King said Monday that the campaign donation of Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe's (D.) political action committee to the wife of an FBI official who investigated Hillary Clinton's private email server "sure stinks."
King discussed how Republicans still think Clinton is a flawed candidate, citing her email scandal and subsequent investigation, along with the ongoing WikiLeaks releases of hacked emails from her campaign chairman's account.
He then mentioned a new Wall Street Journal story about McAuliffe's $467,500 campaign donation.
The political organization of Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, an influential Democrat with longstanding ties to Bill and Hillary Clinton, gave nearly $500,000 to the election campaign of the wife of an official at the Federal Bureau of Investigation who later helped oversee the investigation into Mrs. Clinton's email use.
Campaign finance records show Mr. McAuliffe's political-action committee donated $467,500 to the 2015 state Senate campaign of Dr. Jill McCabe, who is married to Andrew McCabe, now the deputy director of the FBI.
The Virginia Democratic Party, over which Mr. McAuliffe exerts considerable control, donated an additional $207,788 worth of support to Dr. McCabe's campaign in the form of mailers, according to the records. That adds up to slightly more than $675,000 to her candidacy from entities either directly under Mr. McAuliffe's control or strongly influenced by him. The figure represents more than a third of all the campaign funds Dr. McCabe raised in the effort.
"They [Republicans] think there are other things you can do," King said.
He pointed out the story of McAuliffe and the wife of the FBI official who "happens to have been involved deeply" with the Clinton email investigation.
"There's a story in the Wall Street Journal today about the Virginia governor, using his PAC to take nearly $500,000 to a state Senate candidate who's husband happens to be an official at the FBI who then happens to have been involved deeply in the email investigation," he said.
King said the donation does not look good for Clinton.
"And even if there's nothing nefarious, boy, it sure stinks when you look and you start to connect these dots," he said.
"But what frustrates Republicans is they say Donald Trump, you know, has been unable to prosecute this case," King added. "Now, they blame us [the media] to a degree, but Donald Trump and his speeches they, you know, focus on other things. He talks about a rigged election, he talks about suing the women if he wins or loses after the election."