Mike Pence repeatedly slammed Hillary Clinton for the “cascade of controversies” he said surround her. | AP Photo Pence unleashes new attack on Clinton in Iowa

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — Mike Pence joined Donald Trump Monday in calling for the immediate “shutdown” of the Clinton Foundation, a new line of attack against Hillary Clinton after more revelations emerged about the connection between the foundation and the Clinton State Department.

“Now the Clinton Foundation just announced that they’ll no longer accept corporate and foreign donations if Hillary Clinton is elected in November. Apparently, she’ll have a conflict of interest with the Clinton Foundation if she becomes president, but I guess she didn’t have a conflict of interest taking foreign donations when she was secretary of state of the Untied States of America," Pence said. "The American people are sick and tired of pay-to-play politics in the United States.”


“How in the world can they say that they’ll shut down the Clinton Foundation if she’s elected president of the United States, and allow foreign contributors and major corporations to make down payments on access to the Clinton administration?" Pence added. "I mean, let me tell you something folks, it’s just time that Hillary Clinton came clean.”

Pence frequently labels Clinton as “someone with a stale agenda” who “literally personifies everything this country is tired of.” But he went beyond that attack on Monday, capitalizing on news that the State Department had ordered the review and potential release of an additional 15,000 documents from Clinton’s time as Secretary of State, along with a release of emails from the conservative group Judicial Watch that seemed to show a top Clinton aide setting up a meeting for Crown Prince Salman of Bahrain.

Pence repeatedly slammed Clinton for the “cascade of controversies” he said surround her.

Pence also took aim at the media, saying “the media was talking about a Twitter war with some cable television show host” instead of focusing on the latest email controversy. The reference was to a string of Trump tweets slamming the MSNBC show, "Morning Joe."

Trump and his campaign have struggled to keep attention on Clinton’s continuing troubles with her use of a private email server, repeatedly drawing coverage of his own controversial remarks instead. But Pence, who is steadfastly on message, has maintained a steady drumbeat of attacks on the Democratic nominee, and he turned it up a notch Monday.

During a question-and-answer session with workers at a construction firm after his remarks, one attendee asked if the Trump-Pence Justice Department would indict Clinton. Pence didn't directly address the question, but he continued his assault on Clinton.

“No one is above the law, that is an enduring American principle,” Pence said. “It’s just time for Hillary Clinton to come out of hiding.”

Pence spoke at the Modern Companies factory after a brief tour of the business. He spoke from a podium set up on the back of a flat-bed truck, a setting he said felt “right at home.” It was his second stop in three days in Iowa, underscoring how critical this state is for the Trump-Pence ticket. Pence visited the famed Iowa State Fair on Saturday.

President Barack Obama carried the state twice, but polls show a dead heat in the state between Clinton and Trump.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This story has been amended to remove a reference to the Crown Prince Salman of Bahrain as a donor to the Clinton Foundation. The prince has not donated to the foundation.