Serial Conservative Misinformer Releases Error-Ridden Anti-Clinton Book

Peter Schweizer Released Error-Ridden Clinton Cash: The Untold Story Of How And Why Foreign Governments And Businesses Helped Make Bill And Hillary Rich. On May 5, HarperCollins Publishers released Peter Schweizer's Clinton Cash, which alleges that Hillary Clinton's decisions as secretary of state were influenced by donations to The Clinton Foundation. Schweizer is a Republican activist and consultant who has worked for George W. Bush, Sarah Palin, Bobby Jindal, and Breitbart.com. Fox News called Schweizer's latest anti-Clinton book “very damning,” saying it would cause a “reverberation” that could “threaten” Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, despite the fact that a Media Matters analysis of the book found over 20 errors, fabrications, and distortions. [Media Matters, 4/20/15] [Media Matters, 4/30/15]

O'Reilly Repeatedly Calls For FBI Investigation Into The Clintons

O'Reilly: “Whole Justice System In The United States Falls Apart” Without Clinton Investigation Over Clinton Cash Allegation. On the April 23 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, Bill O'Reilly said that if Attorney General Loretta Lynch does not investigate Clinton over debunked Clinton Cash allegations about a uranium mining company deal, “that becomes a bigger scandal than the Clinton Foundation.” O'Reilly warned that without a federal investigation into Clinton “the whole justice system of the United States falls apart”:

O'REILLY: See, look, here is who goes down if this isn't investigated. Obama goes down, okay, because he is the President. And she violated protocol with him. All right? Hillary Clinton goes down. She can't run if this isn't defined. She can't. She will get slaughtered, all right? And the whole justice system in the United States falls apart. They have to investigate. [Fox News, The O'Reilly Factor, 4/23/15]

O'Reilly Says He's Formally Asked FBI To Investigate Clinton. On the May 4 edition of The O'Reilly Factor, O'Reilly called on FBI Director James Comey to investigate Clinton:

O'REILLY: The FBI can start that investigation tomorrow. It doesn't need President Obama's approval and it doesn't need Attorney General Lynch's approval. So my question tonight is for FBI Director James Comey. Will you start an investigation? Today we presented that question formally to the FBI. We will let you know what the agency says. [Fox News, The O'Reilly Factor, 5/4/15]

O'Reilly: “That's Corrupt” If FBI Doesn't Investigate Clinton. On the May 4 edition of The O'Reilly Factor, O'Reilly insisted the FBI investigate, adding, “and if they don't, that's corrupt, in my opinion”: 

O'REILLY: The question the FBI has a duty to do this. It's not an optional play to protect the sanctity of the electoral system. If there is something this big and you combine the e-mail erasures, which surely Mrs. Clinton knew the Foundation was going to be scrutinized -- and I'm not saying she did anything. I think that would be unfair to do that, but the FBI has got to go in and look. They have to go in and look. And if they don't, that's corrupt, in my opinion. [Fox News, The O'Reilly Factor, 5/4/15]

O'Reilly: Clinton Should Call For An FBI Investigation Herself. Appearing as a guest on the May 5 edition of Fox News' The Five, O'Reilly used the opening segment of the show to continue his crusade for an FBI investigation into the Clintons. He said it would help Clinton if she herself called for a FBI investigation, and that the FBI is the only entity that can properly vet her for the election:

O'REILLY: So what has to happen, and this has to happen, is that the FBI has to look into this to preserve the sanctity of the electoral process. Because nobody is going to find the truth. The investigative reporters will find a little bit but we don't have subpoena power. We can't subpoena, alright? And other people will find dribs and drabs but nobody will get the whole picture. But the FBI could. And because this is a presidential election issue now, the FBI has to go in. Now, we called the FBI, and we'll tell you on The Factor what they told us tonight. All right? But I'm saying, they have no choice. They have to investigate this. 

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If I were Bill and Hillary Clinton, I would be calling for this investigation. That's what I would be saying. I wanted the investigation. 

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We want, as American voters, the facts. Did you do anything wrong? Is the Foundation dirty, alright? The only way you get those facts, Juan, is for the FBI to go in and look and subpoena. 

[...]

If Hillary Clinton is, indeed, the most honest woman in America, that's what her husband said, and the FBI says that's true, then she'll be elected president. So shouldn't the Clinton campaign say we want to prove that she's the most honest woman in America? So please, FBI, come in, show us and all of the American people that this is true and then she'll walk right into the White House. 

[...]

If she's going to run for president, she should be vetted and the only agency that can vet Hillary at this point in history is the FBI. [Fox News, The Five, 5/5/15]

O'Reilly's Baseless Demands Follow An Old GOP Playbook

Republicans Have Called For Investigations Against Democrats As Part Of A “Permanent Witch Hunt” Since The 1990s. The Atlantic's Michael Hirsh has outlined how conservatives have used the threat of federal investigation to conduct a “permanent witch hunt” against Democrats since the 1990s, from Whitewater to Fast And Furious. [The Atlantic, 6/22/12]

GOP Has Desperately Been Searching For A Democratic Watergate For Years, But Keeps Coming Up Short. Salon noted how Republicans have been desperately searching for a scandal in the Obama administration, exploiting any opportunity to launch an investigation into the matter but continually falling short of uncovering evidence of wrongdoing, writing “The right has been praying for a Democratic Watergate for years and they keep coming up short. It must be intensely frustrating that it always seems just out of their reach.” [Salon, 6/17/14]

This item has been updated.