Hillary Clinton supporter Rep. André Carson (D., Ind.) told CNN’s Alisyn Camerota on Thursday that the overlapping relationship between the Clinton Foundation and the State Department is a "slippery slope."
"I think there is always a slippery slope of sorts when you have donors who give, and then after they give, they make requests from bureaucrats or politicians," Carson said.
Camerota asked Carson about what conservative groups have found from State Department emails showing Clinton Foundation officials rewarding their donors with access to the department.
"So, Congressman, just even today, there are these conservative outlets, Citizens United, Judicial Watch, that continues to get their hands on emails or documents that show, while not a smoking gun, they do show that top executives at the Clinton Foundation were asking for favors or access from people at the State Department while Hillary Clinton was there," she said. "What do you think of that connection?"
Carson calling this a "slippery slope," and said the relationship is a "messy area."
"You never want to have the appearance of impropriety or pay to play, but when you’re dealing with human beings, things happen and we get into this messy area," he said.
Camerota pressed further and asked why people at the Clinton Foundation were even emailing officials at the State Department for favors. She asked if they should have known better.
Carson said that all people should know better and should be mindful of the ways emails and these kinds of exchanges could be perceived.
"At the end of the day, we’re all human beings, and we should all be more mindful about the ways we approach things," he said.
He acknowledged that it does look bad for Clinton.
"I think sometimes our impulse to either pay back a favor or to do something for someone can get muddied, and in this era of email exchanges, and it could give an appearance of some sinister plot when there isn’t really one," he said.