One theory about why the Beltway press keeps thrashing long-deceased steeds named “Clinton Email” and “Clinton Foundation” while ignoring the galloping scandals, gaffes and lies emanating near-daily from the Trump scampaign is the sheer volume of material on the Trump side. I can sympathize. I mean, who has time to unpack the implications of the Paul Manafort-Putin-Russian hacking thing, amirite?
In the interest of reducing the daunting array of promising lines of inquiry, here are just 10 questions some enterprising band of reporters could doggedly pursue until they get a response: (Note: Some are real questions that deserve answers because they are relevant to the candidate’s fitness for the job, and some are bullshit likability questions of the type Secretary Clinton must frequently answer.)
1. Why do a clear majority of Americans dislike and distrust you?
2. Why do only 1% of black voters support your candidacy?
3. Why do you think your support among Latino voters has dropped to just 19%?
4. You’ve said you can’t release your tax returns because they are being audited, which is not true: Richard Nixon released his returns under audit as a sitting president, and the IRS has stated there’s no restriction on releasing returns while undergoing an audit. You also have the option to release past returns that aren’t under audit but have refused to do that either. What are you hiding?
5. In 2011, you claimed you sent a team to Hawaii to investigate the president’s birth certificate and reported that “they cannot believe what they are finding,” yet you never released any findings. Did you lie about dispatching investigators? If not, who were they, and what did they find?
6. Did you bribe your supporter Pam Bondi, the attorney general of Florida, to drop the Trump University fraud investigation? Do you think it’s appropriate for a state’s attorney general to accept substantial campaign contributions from a person whose company she is investigating for fraud?
7. In response to your frequent criticism of the Clinton Foundation, the Clinton campaign released the following statement:
Donald Trump has been falsely attacking the charity run by President Clinton when it is Trump’s own Foundation that has been caught in an actual pay-to-play scandal.
While the Clinton Foundation has received the highest ratings from independent charitable watchdogs, Donald Trump’s use of foundation money to donate to the Florida Attorney General actually broke the law. Worst of all, it appears the payment may have been intended to stave off an investigation into the sham Trump University that has ripped off unsuspecting students.
Donald Trump has no standing whatsoever to question the Clinton Foundation, which works to make AIDS and malaria drugs more accessible, when it’s been proven he uses his own foundation to launder illegal campaign donations.
Can you rebut those claims with specifics?
8. Why is a vicious, misogynistic workplace predator, Roger Ailes, serving as your advisor? Do you leave that pervert alone with female staffers or family members? Do you stand by the supportive remarks you made about Ailes in the wake of Gretchen Carlson’s accusations of sexual harassment?
9. In early August, you said your wife would hold a press conference to clear up questions that arose about her immigration status during a 1995 photo shoot in light of the fact that she previously claimed to have entered this country on a work visa in 1996. When will that press conference take place?
10. During your post-meeting press conference with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, you claimed that payment for the wall was not discussed, but Peña says he told you Mexico would not pay for the wall. Which of you is lying? If you’re telling the truth and payment was not discussed, why not? You say Mexico will pay for the wall at every rally, and this is widely known in Mexico. Were you too cowardly to bring it up to Peña’s face?
I can think of many more questions that should be pursued, such as the allegations that the Trump modeling agency exploited undocumented workers and that the Trump organization screwed unions and imported / abused Polish workers while building Trump Tower, etc. The list truly is dizzying. But you gotta start somewhere.