NEW YORK • Mr Rudy Giuliani, a leading contender to be US President-elect Donald Trump's attorney-general, said yesterday that President Barack Obama should not pardon Mrs Hillary Clinton.

Mr Obama "should leave it to the system we all believe in", Mr Giuliani said on Fox News.

The White House on Wednesday would not rule out issuing a pardon to protect Mrs Clinton from prosecution by the incoming administration over her use of a private e-mail server as Mr Obama's secretary of state, an issue that dogged her presidential campaign.

Mr Giuliani suggested that the question of pardoning Mrs Clinton is not just tied to her e-mail, but also to her family's charitable foundation, which he said is under investigation.

"I think President Obama should leave it to the system we all believe in to determine, is she innocent or is she guilty?"

Mr Giuliani, 72, was mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001.

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