Much of the 2016 presidential campaign was marked by speculation about possible corruption at the Clinton Foundation.

According to a New York Times article published this week, the Department of Justice (DOJ) pursued a years-long investigation into the matter. However, prosecutors ultimately refused to pursue charges.

All evidence "returned or otherwise destroyed" following investigation

Times contributor Adam Goldman pointed to closing documents that his paper obtained via a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.

"The captioned case is being closed due to the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Arkansas declining the case," the documents stated.

"The declination and closing EC is documented in serial 148 of this case file. All of the evidence obtained during the course of this investigation has been returned or otherwise destroyed," they added.

Goldman asserted that "in a toxic atmosphere in which Mr. Trump had long accused the F.B.I. of bias, the top agent in Little Rock wanted it known that career prosecutors, not F.B.I. officials, were behind the decision."

Donations to the Clinton Foundation fell sharply after 2016 presidential loss

"In August 2021, the F.B.I. received what is known as a declination memo from prosecutors and as a result considered the matter closed," he added.

Many on the right long argued that the Clinton Foundation effectively functioned as a money laundering operation under which foreign actors could make donations in return for political influence.

Some said those suspicions were confirmed when donations to the organization dropped precipitously after it became clear Clinton would not be president.

The New York Post reported in 2018 that donations to the foundation declined from $62,912,331 in 2016 to $26,566,825 a year later.

Total Clinton speaking fees fell from $3.6 million to $300,000 over two-year period

What's more, speaking fees generated by former President Bill Clinton and the former first lady went down sharply as well, going from $3.6 million in 2015 to just $300,000 in 2017.

Critics included then House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows, who advanced a pay-for-play argument in a 2018 statement to Fox News.

"The remarkable significance of the drop in Clinton foundation donations raises grave concerns their operations were not above board as the American people have been led to believe," Meadows was quoted as saying.

"Whenever we look at the possibility of 'pay to play' by government officials, current or former, it demands answers--and anyone who uses public office to sell access for their own financial benefit must be held accountable," he added.