The State Department inspector general reportedly subpoenaed the Clinton Foundation in the fall of last year to obtain documents about foundation projects that may have needed to gain approval from the federal government when Hillary Clinton served as secretary of state.
The Washington Post reported on the subpoena issued by State Department investigators, which also requested records about Huma Abedin, the longtime Clinton aide whose status as a "special government employee" allowed her to work for the Clinton Foundation and a firm with ties to the Clintons, Teneo, during her final six months at the State Department.
Formerly deputy chief off staff for Clinton at the State Department, Abedin currently serves as the vice chair of Clinton’s presidential campaign. She has previously been investigated by the State Department inspector general and was found to have accepted nearly $10,000 in overpayments from the agency. Her special status has also been under investigation by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
The full picture of the inspector general’s inquiry involving the Clinton Foundation is not clear. An anonymous foundation representative told the Post that the inquiry is not focused on the charity.
Still, the inquiry could spell further turmoil for Clinton’s presidential campaign.
Clinton has weathered scrutiny for months for her use of private email to conduct government business at the State Department. The FBI is currently probing Clinton’s personal server setup, which the agency officially confirmed in a letter earlier this month. The State Department has been periodically vetting and releasing Clinton’s communications to the public, but has had to withhold nearly two dozen emails from release because they contain top secret information.
Critics allege that Clinton endangered national security by using private email, and an intelligence review has reportedly confirmed that some Clinton emails contained top secret information at the time they were sent. Clinton has insisted that she never sent or received information marked classified on her email.
Amid revelations about her email use, Clinton has witnessed her poll numbers and honesty ratings drop.
The latest report about the State Department’s subpoena comes just days after Clinton lost to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.), her competitor for the Democratic nomination, by 22 points in the New Hampshire primary.