CLEVELAND (JTA) — Michael Mukasey, the U.S. attorney general under President George W. Bush, attacked Hillary Clinton’s fitness for office.
Speaking Tuesday to the Republican National Convention, Mukasey outlined examples of what he said were Clinton’s violation of her oath of office when she served as secretary of state during President Barack Obama’s first term, referring to her use of a private email server to send official emails, including some containing classified information.
“Hillary Clinton is asking the people of this country to make her the first president in history to take the constitutional oath of office after having violated it,” he said. “No way, Hillary!”
The FBI recently concluded that Clinton’s actions with the server were lax but did not merit prosecution.
Mukasey did not mention nominee Donald Trump in his remarks. During the primaries, he said Trump was unfit to hold office, in part because of the candidate’s broad generalizations about national security,
Mukasey, who is Orthodox Jewish, was the second Jewish attorney general. Ed Levi served under President Gerald Ford in the 1970s.
A former judge, Mukasey has emerged since leaving office as a fierce critic of Islam, suggesting that the Muslims are rapidly radicalizing.
He has come under fire from anti-torture groups for his defense of the use of waterboarding.
Much of the convention thus far has focused on attacking Clinton, leavened occasionally with praise for Trump.
Also Tuesday, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a former federal prosecutor, “tried” Clinton for what he depicted as her foreign policy transgressions, urging the crowd to declare her “guilty.”
One of these was her role in shaping the sanctions relief for nuclear rollback deal with Iran.
“She launched the negotiations that brought about the worst nuclear deal in history,” he said. “It’s a deal that will lead to a nuclear Iran and an Israel that is much less secure.”
“Guilty,” the crowd shouted.
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