Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump take shots at each other on Sunday shows - Los Angeles Times
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Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump take shots at each other on Sunday shows

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Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump jabbed at one another in separate TV appearances Sunday as she accused him of “bizarre rants” and “outright lies,” and described him as “temperamentally unfit” for the White House.

Trump, in turn, said Clinton’s use of a private email server as secretary of State was a “criminal situation” and if elected president, he will instruct the attorney general to look into it.

“She’s guilty as hell,” Trump said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” “She’s also guilty of stupidity.”

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They sparred aggressively from a safe distance, speaking in separate pre-taped interviews on Sunday talk shows to score points before Tuesday’s primaries in delegate-rich California and other states.

Clinton largely focused her fire on Trump and the fall campaign rather than on her Democratic rival, Bernie Sanders. Although the California race remains tight, Clinton is widely expected to win enough delegates on Tuesday to claim the nomination.

See the most-read stories this hour >>

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The Democratic front runner condemned Trump’s “very vicious public attack” against the federal judge who is overseeing a lawsuit that claims students were defrauded by Trump University.

Trump, the presumptive GOP nominee, has said U.S. District Court Judge Gonzalo Curiel, who was born in Indiana, cannot be impartial because his parents are from Mexico— and Trump has pledged to build a wall on the southern border to block illegal immigration.

“Judge Curiel is as American as I am and certainly as American as Donald Trump is,” Clinton countered on ABC’s “This Week.”

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Trump repeated his complaints about the San Diego-based judge, ignoring prominent Republicans who say attacks on the judge’s Mexican heritage are inappropriate.

Trump said Curiel had shown “bias” and treated him in a “very hostile manner” and that his side should have won a summary judgment in the case years ago.

Curiel recently approved the release of documents in the case that suggest the now-defunct for-profit real estate school exploited poor and elderly students.

Clinton, speaking on ABC’s “This Week,” was asked if she accepted a State Department Inspector General’s report that concluded she had violated department rules by relying on a personal email account while she served as secretary of State during President Obama’s first term.

She reiterated her long-standing answer that she had made a mistake and if she had to do it over again, she wouldn’t have used a private email account. She also repeated her assertion that at the time, the rules weren’t clear.

The FBI is investigating the emails to determine if classified information was compromised. Clinton has not been charged with a crime, and no evidence suggests a grand jury has been convened to consider potential charges.

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Clinton was asked about Trump’s statement that he would have the U.S. attorney general examine her practice since, in his words, “everybody knows she’s guilty.”

“Typical Trumpism,” Clinton said. “What Trump is doing is trying to divert attention from the very serious fraud charges against Trump University.”

Clinton said the FBI has not asked to interview her about the emails although agents have met with several of her senior aides. She said she would like be interviewed soon and “get this matter…behind us.”

Asked on CNN’s “State of the Union” about violence at several Trump campaign events, Trump blamed “thugs” and “paid agitators” who burn U.S. flags.

But Clinton said Trump had created an environment in which it seemed acceptable for a major presidential candidate to incite violence at his rallies, and people opposed to his campaign him were responding in kind.

“It should all stop,” she said.

Sanders appeared on “State of the Union” and challenged the family-run Clinton Foundation’s acceptance of large foreign contributions, including from Saudi Arabia, while she was secretary of State.

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Sanders said he had a problem with the foundation accepting money from countries that lack democratic rights and civil liberties and don’t respect women’s rights or gay rights.

Talking about the California primary, Sanders said if working people and young people turned out and turnout is large “we have a chance to win big.”

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