Republican nominee Donald Trump today vowed to launch a special investigation against Democratic rival Hillary Clinton over her use of a private email server as Secretary of State.
During a feisty exchange of words with Democratic rival during their second presidential debate here, Trump said that ‘if elected as the US President and he will ensure that she is jailed’.
“We are going to get a special prosecutor and we are going to look into it, because you know what? People... their lives have been destroyed for doing one-fifth of what you have done. And it's a disgrace. And honestly, you ought to be ashamed of yourself," Trump said.
Clinton, on the other hand, accused Trump of lying.
“Because everything he just said is absolutely false, but I'm not surprised,” she said.
“Oh, really?” Trump remarked.
“It is just awfully good that someone with the temperament of Donald Trump is not in charge of the law in our country,”
Clinton said.
“Because you'd be in jail,” Trump said in another interruption.
“If you did that in the private sector, you'd be put in jail, let alone after getting a subpoena from the United States Congress,” Trump said.
He demanded that Clinton apologise for deleting 33,000 e-mails.
“I think the one that you should really be apologising for and the thing that you should be apologising for are the 33,000 e-mails that you deleted and acid washed and then the two boxes of e-mails and other things last week that were taken from an office and are now missing,” he said.
"I did not think I would say this, but I am going to say it. And I hate to say it but if I win, I am going to instruct my attorney general to get a special prosecutor to look into your situation, because there has never been so many lies, so much deception. There has never been anything like it and we are going to have a special prosecutor," Trump said.
People in this country get furious, the 70-year-old real estate tycoon said, adding, "In my opinion, the people that have been long-term workers at the FBI are furious. There has never been anything like this, where e-mails... and you get a subpoena and after getting the subpoena you delete 33,000 e-mails, and then you acid wash them or bleach them, as you would say, very expensive process."
Private email server was a mistake, admits Hillary Clinton
Clinton has been charged with using a personal email, endangering national security, during her tenure as US President Barack Obama's chief diplomat from 2009-2013.
During the 90-minute debate, she reasserted that she made a mistake on the email issue.
"I've said before, but I'll repeat it, because I want everyone to hear it that was a mistake and I take responsibility for using a personal e-mail account. Obviously, if I were to do it over again, I would not. I'm not making any excuses. It was a mistake. And I am very sorry about that," she said.
"But I think it's also important to point out where there are some misleading accusations from critics and others. After a year-long investigation, there is no evidence that anyone hacked the server I was using and there is no evidence that anyone can point to at all -- anyone who says otherwise has no basis -- that any classified material ended up in the wrong hands," she added.
Stating that she takes classified materials very seriously, Clinton added, "When I was on the Senate Armed Services Committee, I was privy to a lot of classified material. Obviously, as secretary of state, I had some of the most important secrets that we possess, such as going after bin Laden. So I am very committed to taking classified information seriously. And as I said, there is no evidence that any classified information ended up in the wrong hands."
And yet, Trump responded, Clinton did not know the word -- the letter C on a document. "Right? She didn't even know what that word, what that letter meant," he remarked.
"It is amazing. I am watching Hillary go over facts. And she is going after fact after fact, and she is lying again, because she said she... you know, what she did with the e-mail was fine. You think it was fine to delete 33,000 e-mails? I don't think so. She said the 33,000 e-mails had to do with her daughter's wedding, number one, and a yoga class. Well, maybe we'll give three or three or four or five or something. 33,000 e-mails deleted, and now she's saying there wasn't anything wrong," Trump said.
"Our Justice Department, where our husband goes on to the back of a airplane for 39 minutes, talks to the attorney general days before a ruling is going to be made on her case. But for you to say that there was nothing wrong with you deleting 33,000 e-mails, again, you should be ashamed of yourself. And this is after getting a subpoena from the United States Congress," Trump said.
Trump, Clinton argue about Abraham Lincoln
Both Trump and Clinton used the name of the former US president Abraham Lincoln when the Democratic nominee was asked about being public and private positions on issues.
"Is it acceptable for a politician to have a private stance on issues?" Clinton was asked.
At the debate, she said this remark followed the release of the film Lincoln - which depicted the iconic president's efforts to get Congress to ratify the 13th Amendment, prohibiting slavery - and was meant to illustrate how the 16th president had governed so successfully.
"I was making the point that it is hard sometimes to get the Congress to do what you want to do and you have to keep working at it. And, yes, President Lincoln was trying to convince some people, he used some arguments, convincing other people, he used other arguments. That was a great -- I thought a great display of presidential leadership," Clinton said.
Trump pounced, saying Clinton had been "caught in a total lie."
"Now she's blaming the lie on the late great Abraham Lincoln," Trump said.
"Honest Abe never lied," Trump added, saying that was a "big, big difference" with Clinton.
Trump alleged that Clinton was using the name Lincoln to justify her lies.
With PTI Inputs
