Fox News host Shepard Smith infuriates viewers by debunking network's favourite Hillary Clinton 'scandal'

Donald Trump and the network have suggested that donations to the Clinton Foundation were tied to the approval of a deal by the Obama administration

Fox News host Shepard Smith has quashed what his own network has referred to as the Hillary Clinton uranium “scandal”, angering his viewers.

Fox News, as well as President Donald Trump and his allies, have suggested for months that donations to the Clinton Foundation were tied to the approval of a deal by the State Department and the Obama administration. The agreement allowed a Russian company to purchase a Canada-based mining group with operations in the US.

Those pedalling the theory say that nine people involved in the deal made donations to the Clinton Foundation totalling more than $140 million. In exchange, they say, Ms Clinton approved the sale to the Russians – a “quid pro quo”.

The accusation was first made by Peter Schweizer, the senior editor-at-large of the far-right website Breitbart, in his 2015 book Clinton Cash. In 2016, Mr Trump repeated these claims while running for President, citing them as an example of Ms Clinton’s corruption.

In recent weeks, Mr Trump and other Republicans have placed a spotlight on the allegations once again – possibly to try to distract the public from new developments in an investigation into alleged ties between Russian and the Trump campaign.

“Hillary Clinton’s State Department approved the transfer of 20 percent of America’s uranium holdings to Russia,” the President claimed in a speech last year. “Well, nine investors in the deal funneled $145 million to the Clinton Foundation.”

But Mr Smith, in his broadcast, labelled these accusations “inaccurate”.

“The accusation is predicated on the charge that Secretary Clinton approved the sale. She did not,” he said. “A committee of nine evaluated the sale, the president approved the sale, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and others had to offer permits, and none of the uranium was exported for use by the US to Russia.”

Mr Smith also pointed out that the Clinton Foundation donations in question came from Frank Giustra, the founder of the uranium company in Canada.

But Mr Giustra “says he sold his stake in the company back in 2007,” three years before the uranium/Russia deal and “a year and a half before Hillary Clinton became secretary of state,” Mr Smith noted.

Many viewers of Mr Smith’s programme were outraged by his comments and suggested that he ought to work for CNN or MSNBC.

“Get Shepard Smith off of Fox,” one person wrote on Twitter. “He's arrogant and doing his own spin. Nobody knows how deep the left's conspiracy goes and Shepherd Smith has ZERO inside info because nobody trusts him. OUT!”

“The worst part of a relaxing day is when Shepherd Smith starts talking. He is a smartass that needs to be on CNN,” another said.