Hillary Clinton press secretary Brian Fallon on Thursday accused the State Department Inspector General's office of launching baseless fishing expeditions aimed at harming Clinton’s campaign.
CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer asked Fallon about a Washington Post report that the State Department issued a subpoena to the Clinton Foundation, the Clinton family’s charity, for documents about projects that needed federal government approval while Hillary Clinton was secretary of state. This included records from Clinton's controversial aide, Huma Abedin.
Fallon claimed that individuals working in the inspector general’s office are working to smear Clinton, citing their professional histories.
"It’s very hard, to be honest with you, for me personally to keep track of all the fishing expeditions that this IG office has conducted," Fallon said.
"In the last few weeks, we've seen reports of who works in that office, that State Department IG's office, you have the number two official there, Emilia DiSanto, who’s a former eight year aide to Sen. Chuck Grassley who last month said his number one goal this year is to defeat Hillary Clinton," Fallon said.
"So you have these individuals that have a history of targeting Hillary Clinton and strangely we've seen a pattern of leaks emerging on the eves of primary elections and debates," Fallon said. "So I think it's a very troubling phenomenon, and I think it's just more of the same."
Fallon didn’t walk back his allegation when pressed by Blitzer, who pointed out that State Department Inspector General Steve Linick was handpicked by President Obama and confirmed by a Democratic-controlled Senate in 2013.
"So you say this fishing expedition or whatever you're calling it, that there's sort of a plot inside the inspector general’s office in the State Department, to get Hillary Clinton?" Blitzer asked.
"All I know is they have mounted several different fishing expedition-style investigations since she decided to run for president," Fallon said. "There’s no basis to any of them and it is intended to create headwinds for her campaign. It is not going to work."