Hillary Clinton may question legitimacy of 2016 election if further Russian meddling uncovered

Hillary Clinton said she would not rule out questioning the legitimacy of last year's US election if further Russian interference is uncovered. 

However, the defeated Democratic nominee admitted there is no way for her to challenge the results now.

Mrs Clinton has re-emerged into the spotlight to promote her new book, What Happened, about the 2016 election, in which she calls Mr Trump "a clear and present danger to the country and the world."

In the book, the former secretary of state assigns blame for her presidential loss on several factors, including interference from Russian hackers, accusations levelled at her by former FBI Director James Comey and even her gender.

Asked in an NPR interview whether she would "completely rule out questioning the legitimacy of this election if we learn that the Russian interference in the election is even deeper than we know now?", Mrs Clinton replied: "No. I would not ... I wouldn't rule it out."

The Donald Trump campaign’s Russia connections

Special counsel Robert Mueller is currently leading an investigation into any links between the Trump campaign and Russia, while Congress is also investigating Russia's meddling in last year's election.

Mr Trump has dismissed Mr Mueller's probe as a "witch hunt" .

Mrs Clinton went on to say that, unlike in Kenya where its  Supreme Court overturned their recent presidential election and ordered a new vote, there were no such options for her to challenge the results. 

"Basically I don't believe there are. There are scholars, academics, who have arguments that it would be, but I don't think they're on strong ground," she said.

"I just don't think we have a mechanism. What happened in Kenya, which I'm only beginning to delve into, is that the Supreme Court there said there are so many really unanswered and problematic questions, we're going to throw the election out and redo it.

"We have no such provision in our country. And usually we don't need it."

Glen Caplin, a spokesman for Mrs Clinton, reiterated in a statement to CNN that Mrs Clinton "has said repeatedly the results of the election are over but we have to learn what happened". 

"I would hope anyone in America concerned about the integrity of our democracy would feel the same way if we got there. But we're not," Caplin said. "Right now Bob Mueller and several congressional committees are investigating to what extent the Russians impacted our election and who exactly helped them do so."

The White House has criticised the book, with spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders calling it "sad" that the last chapter of Mrs Clinton's public life will be defined by selling books with "false and reckless attacks."

Mr Trump has also stepped up his criticism of Mrs Clinton on Twitter,