Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton has been awarded the title of "Worst Ethics Violator of 2015."
On Tuesday, the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT), a Washington-based ethics watchdog, released a list of eight politicians it considers the worst ethics violators of 2015, reported The Daily Caller.
According to FACT, which is non-partisan but receives money from conservative groups, Clinton was in a league of her own in terms of ethics violations.
"During her time as Secretary of State, overwhelming evidence shows, primarily through the State Department's release of her emails, that she abused her official position," FACT's report says. "Those emails remained hidden from the public until earlier this year when it was discovered that Secretary Clinton conducted government business on her private email server and a judge ultimately ordered that she turn over and the State Department release the emails. Since becoming a presidential candidate, she has on numerous occasions violated campaign and ethics laws."
FACT then listed four examples that "don't even touch the surface of [Clinton's] improper behavior":
1) Clinton Giving Preferential Treatment Involving Son-in-Law: FACT has called for a federal probe into communications during Hillary Clinton's time at the State Department which suggest that then Secretary Clinton gave special treatment to a private mining company as a result of the company's relationships with Clinton's son-in-law and donors to the Clinton Foundation.
2) Clinton Foundation Payments to Hillary 08 Presidential Campaign: FACT has asked the IRS to investigate whether the Clinton Foundation broke federal law by making payments of nearly $350,000 to Hillary Clinton's failed 2008 presidential campaign to rent Clinton's email list after she failed to secure the Democratic nomination. The transaction came at a time the campaign was paying off debt, but Clinton's ability to fundraise was limited by State Department ethics rules.
3) Clinton Campaign Illegally Interacting with PAC: FACT asked the FEC to investigate illegal interactions between Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign and her PAC, Ready for Hillary, over a Ready for Hillary email list with 4 million names which the Clinton campaign received. There is skepticism about the legitimacy of this list swap since Ready for Hillary is an independent Super PAC and Federal law explicitly prohibits a candidate from coordinating with and accepting donations, including an in-kind donation of a mailing list, from a super PAC.
4) Clinton Violated Ethics Rules by Meeting with Senate Democrats: FACT asked for an investigation into meetings between Hillary Clinton's campaign team and key Senate Democrats inside official Senate offices where political activities are barred.
FACT's bipartisan list of ethics violators includes four other Democratic politicians and three Republicans, notes Breitbart.
Along with Clinton, the following lawmakers and candidates made the list: Rep. Alan Grayson, D-Fla.; Rep. Frank Guinta, R-N.H.; Rep. Robert Pittenger, R-N.C.; Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C.; Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-MO; Sen. Tom Carper, D-DE; and Democratic Senate candidate Joe Sestak of Pennsylvania.
"Elected officials are sent to Washington to follow and uphold the law and so they need to be held to the highest standard of ethics," said Matthew G. Whitaker, FACT executive director. "Even the appearance of impropriety can quickly erode public trust, and Mrs. Clinton is in a league of her own. We will continue to vigorously hold the lantern over unethical behavior so that we have a government that serves the public's interest, not the self-interests of leaders who think they are beyond reproach."
