USA TODAY International Edition
House Republicans open investigations linked to Clinton
WASHINGTON Republican leaders of three House committees announced Tuesday they are launching two separate investigations involving former secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
One probe will deal with why the Obama administration allowed a Russian company to acquire U.S. uranium mines, and a second will look into why the FBI decided not to pursue charges against Clinton for use of a personal email server.
One of the committees involved — the House Intelligence Committee — is also involved in the ongoing investigation of whether Donald Trump’s presidential campaign colluded with the Russian government’s efforts to meddle in the U.S. election.
Leaders of two House committees said they are looking into whether the FBI or Department of Justice ever opened an investigation of the sale of U.S. uranium mines to the Russians during the Obama administration.
House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., said his committee and the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee want to know whether there was an investigation of the uranium sale back in 2010 and, if so, why Congress was never informed.
Rep. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., a member of the Oversight Committee, said there is a confidential informant who wants to testify before the committees about the sale.
Recent reports in The Hill newspaper said there was an FBI investigation into Russian officials engaging in bribery and extortion while trying to buy Uranium One, a Canadian company that controlled 20% of the U.S. uranium supply.
Republicans are now questioning why the Obama administration and the State Department, under Clinton’s leadership, allowed the sale to the Russian governmentrun Rosatom, and whether donations to the Clinton Foundation had any role in the decision.
Clinton dismissed Republican concerns about the sale of U.S. uranium mines to the Russians during her tenure as “baloney” during an interview on C-SPAN on Monday.
She said Republicans are just trying to draw attention away from the ongoing probes into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election and possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian officials.