The Claim: Donald Trump Announces Hillary Clinton Prosecution “Moving On”
A Facebook video from April 23 shows what appears to be reporting on a recent statement by former President Donald Trump.
“Breaking Trump is quietly announcing that the lawsuit against Hillary is moving forward,” read the title of the Facebook video.
The post was shared more than 1,000 times in one month.
Follow us on Facebook! Like our page to get updates throughout the day on our latest debunkings
Our opinion: False
This video is from 2016, and there is no evidence that Trump recently made an announcement about pursuing charges against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Trump does not have the power to direct prosecution decisions.
Old words presented as new
There are no credible reports of criminal charges against Clinton. And if such a thing happened, it wouldn’t be with the involvement of Trump, who announced a 2024 presidential race in November 2022.
The Facebook video shows a snippet of a YouTube show produced by the Next News Network, which bills itself as “The Right Source of Information.” The video has graphics referencing “Selection 2016” and was first posted on YouTube on November 27, 2016.
In the video, the host claims Trump’s 2016 refusal to press charges against Clinton over her use of a private email server is dishonest. It points to a tweet from November 22, 2016 from New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman as evidence that Trump could still support the lawsuits. At the time, Trump was president-elect.
The clip has nothing to do with the current situation with Clinton.
In 2016, the FBI investigated allegations that Clinton and his staff mishandled classified information during his tenure as secretary of state. The FBI recommended against pressing charges against Clinton, who was the Democratic presidential candidate at the time. The Department of Justice then officially closed its investigation.
Fact check: The Supreme Court does not have the power to impeach a senator
In 2018, The New York Times reported that Trump wanted to order the Justice Department to prosecute Clinton and James Comey, who was director of the FBI when the agency concluded its investigation into Clinton’s use of the server.
USA TODAY reached out to the social media user who shared the video for comment and did not immediately get a response.
PolitiFact and Check Your Fact have also debunked this claim.
Our fact-checking sources:
Express Video (YouTube), November 27, 2016, Breaking Trump quietly announces lawsuit against Hillary moving forward
Twitter, November 22, 2016, Tweet by Maggie Haberman
USA TODAY, November 6, 2016, FBI Says It’s Finally Finished Investigating Hillary Clinton
USA TODAY, November 22, 2016, Trump won’t sue Clinton
USA TODAY, November 15, 2022, Former President Donald Trump announces 2024 Mar-a-Lago race on the heels of midterms
New York Times, November 22, 2016, Trump, in an interview, moderates opinions but defies convention
New York Times, November 20, 2018 Trump wanted to order the Justice Department to prosecute Comey and Clinton
Thank you for supporting our journalism. You can subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or e-journal replica here.
Our fact-checking work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Video of Trump discussing Clinton prosecution from 2016 | Fact check