“That's something that, obviously, will continue to be looked at,” Leon Panetta said, before waving off reports of State Department-Clinton Foundation contacts as typical networking. | Getty Panetta defends Clinton Foundation-State Department relationship

Former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta on Sunday defended Hillary Clinton’s State Department from accusations it had an improper ties to the Clinton Foundation.

“That's something that, obviously, will continue to be looked at,” Panetta said, before waving off the issue as typical networking. "Staff people trying to make connections in Washington is a pretty prevalent behavior by most people in Washington.”


The criticism comes after emails released last week through a lawsuit filed by the conservative Judicial Watch appeared to show a Clinton Foundation executive asking for favors from State Department aides. And Clinton’s Republican rival, Donald Trump, and his campaign indicated the emails exposed a “pay-to-play” culture in the State Department under Clinton’s watch, but didn't point to specific decisions made in return for money or favors.

“The question is, whether anything was done in return for that kind of donation,” Panetta said. “And, as far as I know, nobody’s been able to pin down that that actually happened.”

Panetta, who was CIA director before he moved to the Pentagon, wrote off the criticism as “politics,” but said Clinton should “acknowledge the mistakes that have been made and to then move on.”

“Ultimately, when you do elect somebody to be president of the United States, it is then and then only, frankly, that that president begins to earn the trust of the American people,” Panetta said when pressed on Clinton’s trustworthiness. “And [Clinton] ultimately will earn that trust by virtue of what she does, not what she says.”

Panetta also blasted Donald Trump again for his comments urging Russia to leak more emails from Clinton’s campaign server.

“I think it’s outrageous that Russia would try to interfere with American politics in that fashion,” Panetta said. “I thought it was outrageous that Donald Trump was urging the Russians to conduct that kind of espionage and try to take a position with regards to our election.”

Late last month, Trump encouraged Russia to find and release emails missing from Clinton’s server.

“Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing,” Trump said. “I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press.”