Asked on Hugh Hewitt's radio show about a Wall Street Journal report that four FBI offices were gathering information on the foundation earlier this year, the Arkansas senator speculated that a high-ranking Justice Department official is shutting down probes into the Clintons.

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"I suspect that was a very high-ranking Department of Justice political appointee who was carrying water for the Clinton machine and wanted to shut down an investigation into the Clinton Foundation, which increasingly looks like one of the largest money laundering and influence peddling operations in the world," Cotton said

"There’s no telling the kind of corruption that you might see out of the Clinton White House. They did it in the State Department. Of course, they’re going to do it in the White House," he said.

The foundation has said it would limit the scope of its activities and stop accepting foreign donations if Clinton wins the White House.

Cotton's remarks were part of a broader interview about the FBI's surprise decision to start a new review of emails it deemed "pertinent" to Clinton's use of a private email server during her time as secretary of State.

Clinton and top Democrats have blasted the unexpected move from FBI Director James Comey, urging him to be more transparent and accusing him of influencing the election.

Cotton — considered a potential 2020 GOP presidential candidate and frequent Clinton critic — said, however, that he is "not real sympathetic to the crocodile tears."

"This is not an FBI or a Director Comey problem," he said. "This is a Hillary Clinton problem, and this is why so many Americans view her as untrustworthy and dishonest."

Republicans are hoping the 11th-hour announcement will give them a boost in tough battles up and down the ballot.