FBI Informant: Russians Bragged Clintons Had Influence Over CFIUS in Uranium One

A confidential information for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) testified about what he witnessed undercover during the period leading up to the controversial Uranium One deal. William D. Campbell gave hours of testimony when he met staff members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, House Oversight and House Intelligence Committees on Wednesday.

His explosive allegations can now be heard only because the Trump Administration lifted an unprecedented non-disclosure agreement, allowing him to testify about what he witnessed undercover surrounding Russia’s efforts to corner the global uranium market.

“He recounted numerous times that the Russians bragged that the Clintons’ influence in the Obama administration would ensure CFIUS (pronounced CIFIUS) approval for Uranium One,” said Victoria Toensing, a partner at the firm DiGenova & Toensing who is representing Mr. Campbell. “And he was right.”

The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), which approved the deal, was led by Hillary Clinton during her tenure as secretary of state. Her defenders claim the allegations of pay-for-play are unfounded because of the committee, but the testimony and evidence tell another tale.

In addition to this testimony, there are audio recordings of Russian nuclear officials talking about using bribery to get favors from the Clintons, including donations to the Clinton Foundation.

Mr. Campbell, an American businessman, has been giving the FBI and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) information about national security and intelligence issues for decades. He is dying of cancer and wanted the American people to hear the untold story.

In other words, his assistance on the Uranium One deal was not his first rodeo. The FBI uncovered a massive bribery, corruption and racketeering scheme before the Obama Administration approved the controversial deal.

“For several years my relationship with the CIA consisted of being debriefed after foreign travel,” Mr. Campbell noted in his testimony, which was obtained by Sara Carter. “Gradually, the relationship evolved into the CIA tasking me to travel to specific countries to obtain specific information. In the 1990’s I developed a working relationship with Kazakhstan and Russia in their nuclear energy industries. When I told the CIA of this development, I was turned over to FBI counterintelligence agents.”

In a summary brief to his FBI handlers dated April 16, 2010, Mr. Campbell stressed his deep concerns about the ongoing work of Tenex and Rosatom — both Russian state-owned entities —  to provide Tehran with technology needed for the Iran nuclear program. The FBI knew this at the time Rosatom was seeking the approval to purchase the Canadian mining company known as Uranium One.

“TENEX continues to supply Iran with fuel through their Russian company TVEL,” Mr. Campbell stated in the brief, adding “occasionally someone will mention having been in Iran but usually it is long after the fact.”

TVEL is a Russian nuclear fuel cycle company headquartered in Moscow.

“They (TVEL) continue to assist with construction consult and fabricated assemblies to supply the reactor,” he wrote. “Fabricated assemblies require sophisticated engineering and are arranged inside the reactor with the help and consult of TVEL.”

Then-U.S. Attorney Rod Rosenstein, who is now the Deputy Attorney General and the man who appointed Special Counsel Robert Mueller, oversaw the investigation. Mr. Mueller was the director of the FBI during what numerous experts say appears to be a scheme to cover up potential crimes resulting from the deal.

“I expressed these concerns repeatedly to my FBI handlers. The response I got was that ‘politics’ was somehow involved,” Mr. Campbell told Congress on Wednesday. “I remember one response I got from an agent when I asked how it was possible CFIUS would approve the Uranium One sale when the FBI could prove Rosatom was engaged in criminal conduct. His answer: ‘Ask your politics.'”

Senator Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, called for another special counsel to investigate the Obama-Clinton era deal, particularly given Mr. Mueller’s role in the investigation. A growing number of lawmakers in both the House and Senate have joined Chairman Grassley in that call.

While the Senate Judiciary Committee has launched a probe into the deal, only the powers granted to a federal prosecutor can get to the bottom of what appears to be a clear cut Clinton quid pro quo.

A Russian bank pushing for the sale of Uranium One paid former President Bill Clinton roughly $500,000 in 2010 for a speaking fee, just 4 months before the decision to approve the deal was made. All of the board members from Rosatom donated to the Clinton Foundation, bringing the total upwards of $100 million.

Mr. Campbell’s testimony sheds a lot of light on recent criminal referrals sent to the Justice Department (DOJ), which have led to ongoing investigations into the controversial deal that allowed 20% of U.S. uranium resources to be placed under the control of Moscow.

The investigations, which sources confirmed are being led jointly by the U.S. Attorney and FBI offices in Little Rock, Ark., also dive into allegations of pay-for-play at the Clinton Foundation. Multiple sources tell PPD that they are building on previous progress from an investigation that was tabled during the Obama Administration.

In January, the DOJ announced the most recent unsealed indictment related to the massive bribery and corruption racket surrounding the players in Uranium One.

Mark Lambert, 54, of Mount Airy, Maryland, was charged in an 11-count indictment, including one count of conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and to commit wire fraud. Seven counts are for violating the FCPA, two counts are of wire fraud and one count is for international money laundering.

“The charges stem from an alleged scheme to bribe Vadim Mikerin, a Russian official at JSC Techsnabexport (TENEX), a subsidiary of Russia’s State Atomic Energy Corporation and the sole supplier and exporter of Russian Federation uranium and uranium enrichment services to nuclear power companies worldwide, in order to secure contracts with TENEX,” Justice said in the announcement.

The indictment includes allegations against Mr. Lambert based on his role in effectuating the criminal scheme with his former co-president, Daren Condrey, Mr. Mikerin and others. It alleges Mr. Lambert conspired to bribe Mr. Mikerin, who was arrested for racketeering and plead guilty to money laundering. He was sentenced to just 48 months in federal prison.

FBI documents show Mr. Mikerin, then-director of Rosatom’s Tenex in Moscow, was engaged in illegal activity as early as the fall of 2009.

However, for reasons still unknown, the Obama Administration allowed him to enter the country with a L1 temporary work visa in December 2011 and the deal was ultimately approved.

Mr. Condrey pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the FCPA and commit wire fraud.

“I was speechless and angry in October 2010 when CFIUS approved the Uranium One sale to Rosatom. I was deeply worried that TLI continued to transport sensitive uranium despite the fact that it had been compromised by the bribery scheme,” Mr. Campbell stated in his testimony to lawmakers.

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.