WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - USA Today has joined other papers and Republicans calling for the Clinton Foundation to be shut down amid allegations of corruption.
In an op-ed piece published late Tuesday, USA Today's editorial board described plans to tighten the ethical safeguards for the Clinton Foundation as woefully incomplete.
'The only way to eliminate the odor surrounding the foundation is to wind it down and put it in mothballs, starting today, and transfer its important charitable work to another large American charity such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation,' the editorial board wrote.
They added, 'If Hillary Clinton doesn't support these steps, she boosts Trump's farcical presidential campaign and, if she's elected, opens herself up to the same kind of pay-to-play charges that she was subject to as secretary of State.'
The piece by USA Today comes amid claims the Clinton Foundation was involved in a 'pay-to-play' scheme while Hillary Clinton was serving as Secretary of State.
A recent report from the Associated Press claimed more than half the people outside the government who met with Clinton while she was secretary of state gave money to the foundation.
'Should Clinton win, she'll face an uphill battle to rebuild trust in government and find a way to get Washington working again,' USA Today's editorial board wrote.
They added, 'That task will be all the harder if millions of voters repulsed by Trump's rhetoric and concerned with his volatile behavior find that his 'Crooked Hillary' taunt had some substance in fact.'
While former President Bill Clinton has noted the vital work done by the foundation, the editorial board argued that there will be no more vital work for Hillary Clinton than being president.
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