By Mellisa Ferrari
\nUS Politics Today<\/p>\n
As corrupt public officials go, Hillary Clinton is in a league of her own. That\u2019s according to a Washington ethics watchdog that just named the Democratic presidential front-runner as the top ethics violator of 2015.<\/p>\n
The nonpartisan Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT) placed Clinton at the top of its worst ethics violators of 2015 list after finding \u201coverwhelming evidence\u201d she abused her official position as secretary of state.<\/p>\n
FACT is calling for various federal investigations into Clinton\u2019s unethical behavior, much of which has been uncovered by the ongoing scandal surrounding her State Department emails.<\/p>\n
\u201cThose 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,\u201d FACT noted in a statement.<\/p>\n
FACT believes that some of those recently released communications raise questions about whether Clinton gave special State Department access to a private mining company with ties to her son-in-law,<\/p>\n
The watchdog says Clinton has displayed similarly corrupt behavior on the campaign trail.<\/p>\n
The group has asked the IRS to investigate whether Clinton violated State Department rules when her family foundation made payments of nearly $350,000 to her failed 2008 campaign to rent Clinton\u2019s email list after she failed to secure the Democratic nomination. At the time of the transactions, Clinton\u2019s State Department position prohibited her from doing certain types of fundraising on behalf of the campaign.<\/p>\n
FACT is also requesting the Federal Elections Commission investigate the current Clinton campaign after it received an email list of 4 million potential supporters from a pro-Hillary super PAC. The list, according to FACT, constitutes an in-kind donation, which federal election laws prohibit candidates from accepting directly from PACs.<\/p>\n
Clinton\u2019s political corruption could also ensnare top Senate Democrats if FACT is successful in getting the Senate Select Committee to launch an additional investigation into whether Clinton campaign aides conducted political business in official Senate offices where campaign activities are prohibited.<\/p>\n
\u201cElected officials are sent to Washington to follow and uphold the law and so they need to be held to the highest standard of ethics. Even the appearance of impropriety can quickly erode public trust, and Mrs. Clinton is in a league of her own,\u201d said Matthew Whitaker, FACT\u2019s executive director, in a statement.<\/p>\n
While Clinton is by far FACT\u2019s most corrupt official of 2015, seven other politicians also made the list for activities that violated the public trust in the past year. They include: Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.); Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.); Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.); failed Senate candidate Joe Sestak, a Pennsylvania Democrat; Rep. Frank Guinta (R-N.H.); Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.); and Rep. Robert Pittenger (R-N.C.).<\/p>\n