Russ Feingold
While Republicans have questioned the honesty of Democrat Hillary Clinton in the wake of an email scandal and questions about donations to her charitable foundation, Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Russ Feingold says he has no questions about the honesty of his party’s presidential nominee.
Clinton, as well as Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, have both faced problems with voters who question whether they are trustworthy. According to a Marquette University Law School Poll released earlier this month, 64 percent of voters said “honest” does not describe Clinton or Trump. For Clinton, many of the concerns have revolved around her use of a private email server while she was Secretary of State under President Obama and recent reports that several people who met with her during that time period also made donations to the Clinton Foundation, a charitable organization her family operates.
Asked this week whether he views Clinton as trustworthy, Feingold pointed to a long history with the nominee. “I worked with Hillary Clinton when she was first lady, I worked with her when we were both members of the Senate, and I worked with her when she was Secretary of State. In my encounters with her, she has been reliable and trustworthy.”
Still, Feingold said questions about donations to the Clinton Foundation are something Democratic presidential nominee needs to be open about, while he also supported the view that the foundation may need to suspend operations if she wins the presidency in November. “They ought to be as open as possible about what this has done…and whether there are any concerns going forward,” he said.
AUDIO: Russ Feingold weighs in on possible future of Clinton Foundation (:24)
Feingold is running in November against Republican U.S. Senator Ron Johnson, who defeated him in the 2010 election. In a statement, Johnson campaign manager Besty Ankey called Feingold’s comment a sign that the Democrat is “out of touch” with Wisconsin values. “Only a fellow career politician who makes a practice of skirting ethical lines and repeatedly breaks his word to the people of Wisconsin could think Hillary Clinton is trustworthy,” she said.