Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., whispers something into the ear of her colleague Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Ia., during a Senate hearing. (Photo: AP)
Senator Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, is calling for a special counsel to investigate the Obama-Clinton era Uranium One deal.
“Whoever in DOJ is capable w authority to appoint a special counsel shld do so to investigate Uranium One ‘whoever’ means if u aren’t recused,” Chairman Grassley tweeted.
The call comes amid new revelations about the deal that have led to no less than two congressional investigations.
John Solomon published a bombshell report revealing the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) uncovered a massive bribery, corruption and racketeering scheme by Russia. Documents showed Russian nuclear industry officials were engaged in bribery, kickbacks, extortion and money laundering before the Obama Administration approved a nuclear deal that would put 20% of the U.S. uranium under the control of Moscow.
Then-U.S. Attorney Rod Rosenstein oversaw the investigation, which began when Robert Mueller was still head of the FBI. Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself from any investigation into the Clintons, leaving no credible figure to conduct an independent investigation.
Documents also revealed the FBI had obtained an eyewitness account indicating Russian nuclear officials had routed millions of dollars to the U.S. to the benefit of the Clinton Foundation while Hillary Clinton served as secretary of state. Further, a Russian bank pushing the Uranium One deal paid former President Bill Clinton roughly $500,000 in 2010 for a speaking fee.
Then-Attorney General Eric Holder, who also sat on the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States at the time the Uranium One deal was approved, put a gag order on the witness preventing him from speaking to the U.S. Congress. Loretta Lynch, who took over the Justice Department after Mr. Holder, threatened the witness who wanted to tell their story in 2016.
“This cries out for a special counsel,” the informant’s attorney Victoria Toensing said on Fox News’ “Hannity” Tuesday night. “Congressional committees are fine, but this is a criminal investigation and Jeff Sessions isn’t ever going to feel comfortable appointing that, and Rod Rosenstein is recused because he was the U.S. attorney.”
Just as he prepared to collect in Moscow, Mr. Clinton sought clearance from the State Department during his wife’s tenure to meet with a key board director of the Russian nuclear energy firm Rosatom. Arkady Dvorkovich, a top aide to then-Russian President Dmitri Medvedev and one of the highest-ranking government officials to serve on Rosatom’s board of supervisors, was listed on a May 14, 2010, email as one of 15 Russians the former president wanted to meet during his trip in late June of 2010.
All of the board members from Rosatom donated to the Clinton Foundation, totaling tens of millions of dollars. The deal was approved with then-Secretary Clinton at the helm.
The FBI documents show Vadim Mikerin, the director of Rosatom’s Tenex in Moscow, was engaged in illegal activity as early as the fall of 2009.
“As part of the scheme, Mikerin, with the consent of higher level officials at TENEX and Rosatom (both Russian state-owned entities) would offer no-bid contracts to US businesses in exchange for kickbacks in the form of money payments made to some offshore banks accounts,” Agent David Gadren testified. “Mikerin apparently then shared the proceeds with other co-conspirators associated with TENEX in Russia and elsewhere.”
However, the Obama Administration still allowed him to enter the country with a L1 temporary work visa in December 2011.
At the time, the FBI had gathered substantial evidence against him and the Russian plot to corner the global uranium market. Worth noting, the Uranium One deal did not permit the exporting of the material out of the U.S., but unknown quantities have been exported to unknown nations and parties.
