Washington - A selection of charges levelled at both candidates in the US presidential election:
Critiques against Hillary Clinton:
THE EMAIL AFFAIR: As secretary of state Clinton used a private server for her work emails, which went against official regulations. The controversy surrounding the issue has been repeatedly revived despite a decision in July by the FBI that Clinton had been "extremely careless" in her handling of classified information but had not broken the law.
HIGHLY COMPENSATED SPEECHES: Clinton and her husband Bill, the former president, have received millions of dollars in speaking fees since he left office in 2001, including speeches she delivered to investment bankers after she left her job as secretary of state in 2013, leading to accusations she is too cozy with Wall Street.
CLINTON FOUNDATION'S BLURRED LINES: The Clinton Foundation has been accused of blurring the lines between public and private interests as well as filing questionable tax returns. The foundation's donor list includes authoritarian Gulf states.
HER ROLE IN LIBYA: For years the Republicans have tried to make Clinton personally responsible for the 2012 terror attack on the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya, that left four US personnel dead.
HER HEALTH: A fainting spell during a memorial event for the victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks spurred doubts about whether Clinton, now 69, was physically fit enough to assume office. She suffered a concussion in a fall in December 2012. Her recovery took several months.
Critiques against Donald Trump:
HOSTILITY TOWARD WOMEN: Trump's relationship with women is problematic, at best. The real estate magnate, who has been married three times, has faced accusations ranging from sexually aggressive behaviour to sexual harassment dating back decades. These came to light after a recording of a conversation he had with a tabloid television interviewer surfaced in early October in which he referred to kissing and groping women.
KNOWLEDGE DEFICIT: The Republican is often unintentionally comical, leading to charges that he is ignorant, unprepared and prone to hyperbole. "So Belgium is a beautiful city," Trump said in June at campaign stop in Atlanta. At another rally in early October he referred to the November 28 election. Election day is November 8.
QUESTIONABLE COMMENTS: Trump's list of verbal missteps is a long one. To name just a few: He said wanted to reinstate waterboarding - a torture method that mimics drowning - as an interrogation method despite it being banned by international law, and he called for a complete ban on Muslims entering the US after a terror attack.
TAX AVOIDANCE: In the beginning of October The New York Times newspaper published part of a 1995 Trump tax return in which he claimed a loss of 916 million dollars. That could have allowed him to avoid federal income taxes for 18 years.
HEALTH CONDITION: Trump's physician said the 70-year-old candidate was in "excellent physical health." However, the examination was far from complete.
dpa