Race to the White House: The controversies surrounding Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump

As Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump gear up for the final debate in Las Vegas, the race to be come the next U.S. President is nearly over.

Polls suggest Clinton will trump Trump and become the first woman to take the top job - but like the billionaire businessman, her campaign has not run entirely smoothly.

Here are just some of the controversies that have dogged both candidates in the run up to next month’s vote:

Hillary Clinton

Benghazi attack
Mrs Clinton has said she takes responsibility for the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four Americans in 2012. The former U.S. secretary of state said she asked ambassador Chris Stevens - one of the four embassy staff killed - to go to Libya as U.S. envoy. Mr Trump claimed Mrs Clinton slept through the Benghazi attack and directly blamed her for Mr Stevens’ death, saying: “He was left helpless to die as Hillary Clinton soundly slept in her bed.”

Use of a private email server
Mrs Clinton admitted she made a "mistake” over her use of a private email server while she was U.S. secretary of state. An FBI investigation concluded that the Presidential hopeful and her staff had been “extremely careless” with classified information, although they found no evidence that she knowingly shared sensitive material and it did not recommend criminal charges. Mr Trump said in the second debate that Mrs Clinton should be jailed over the scandal and said a special prosecutor will be instructed to investigate her if he is elected President.

Clinton Foundation
Mrs Clinton has faced claims her charitable foundation had influence over the U.S. state department during her time as secretary of state. A batch of unreleased emails, obtained by legal group Judicial Watch, showed exchanges between the Clinton Foundation and state department employees. Mr Trump described the Clinton Foundation as “the most corrupt enterprise in political history” - although it later emerged he had donated more than 100,000 dollars to the charity.

Sexual misconduct allegations against Bill Clinton
Mr Trump met women who accused the former U.S. president of rape and other unwanted sexual advances shortly before his second Presidential debate. The Republican claimed Mr Clinton had been “abusive to women” and Mrs Clinton should be “ashamed” for attacking her husband’s accusers. Mrs Clinton did not respond directly to Mr Trump’s accusations. Her husband never faced any criminal charges in relation to the sexual misconduct allegations and a lawsuit over an alleged rape was dismissed.

Donald Trump

Sexual misconduct allegations
A number of women have come forward to accuse Mr Trump of sexual assault, including former U.S. Apprentice contestant Summer Zervos, who said the property tycoon forced himself on her at a hotel and began “thrusting his genitals”. Mr Trump has insisted the allegations are "100% made up”, while his wife Melania said they were co-ordinated by his political rivals.

Lewd comments about women
A 2005 video recording of Mr Trump in which he talks about grabbing women “by the p***y’’ plunged his campaign into turmoil. A series of prominent Republicans withdrew their support for Mr Trump following his comments to TV presenter Billy Bush, while some called for him to drop out of the Presidential race entirely. Mr Trump apologised for his remarks and dismissed them as "locker room talk”. However, Mrs Clinton said Mr Trump’s comments represented "exactly who he is” after she previously criticised the Republican for calling women “pigs, slobs and dogs”.

Race: Both candidates are hoping to be the next U.S. President (Rex)

Failure to pay federal tax
Mr Trump admitted he used a $916 million loss he claimed in 1995 to avoid paying federal income tax. The Republican defended his actions, saying the move was "smart” and insisted many of Mrs Clinton’s donors had also taken “massive tax write-offs”. Mr Trump has refused to release his tax returns during the election campaign - unlike other candidates in recent years - saying he would not publish them before a routine audit was completed.

Comments on Muslims and Mexicans
Mr Trump attracted widespread criticism when he called for a ban on Muslims entering the US in the wake of the San Bernardino terrorist attack in December 2015. He later claimed the proposal was "just a suggestion” before outlining plans for “extreme vetting” of would-be immigrants to exclude Islamic terrorists. He has also faced accusations of racism over his plan to build a wall separating Mexico and the United States, with the intention of keeping out illegal immigrants. He said they were “bringing drugs” and were “rapists”.

Top pic: PA