U.S. Attorney John Durham is investigating the handling of the FBI’s investigation of possible bribery and pay-to-play at the Clinton Foundation as part of his broader inquiry of the Trump-Russia investigators, according to a new report.
The New York Times reported Thursday that Durham “has sought documents and interviews about how federal law enforcement officials handled an investigation … into allegations of political corruption” at the Clinton Foundation, founded by former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Durham was picked by Attorney General William Barr in 2019 to investigate the origins and conduct of the Trump-Russia investigation, and the outlet said that “Durham’s team members have suggested to others that they are comparing the two investigations.” The article claimed that “it was not clear whether Mr. Durham’s investigators were similarly looking for violations in the Clinton Foundation investigation.”
Durham’s office declined the Washington Examiner’s request for comment. The Clinton Foundation told the New York Times that it “has regularly been subjected to baseless, politically motivated allegations, and time after time these allegations have been proven false.”
Barr has denied that he is being pressured by President Trump in his handling of Durham’s inquiry and claimed that any actions taken won’t affect the 2020 election. House and Senate Democrats have called for the Justice Department’s independent watchdog to investigate Durham’s work.
After Robert Mueller was appointed in 2017 to look into the Russia matter, Republicans called for the appointment of a second special counsel to investigate Clinton-related controversies. Then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions tasked U.S. Attorney John Huber of Utah in November 2017 to investigate several issues, including the FBI’s corruption investigation into the 2010 Uranium One deal and allegations that Clinton orchestrated a “quid pro quo.” The sale of Uranium One, a Canada-based company with U.S. mine holdings, to Russian state-owned Rosatom was the focus of scrutiny from Republicans who claimed Clinton may have helped coax the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States not to block the deal and that the Clinton Foundation may have stood to benefit.
Barr told CBS’s Jan Crawford in May 2019 that DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz and Durham had taken over much of Huber’s inquiry. Barr said that “the other issues [Huber has] been working on relate to Hillary Clinton” are “winding down and hopefully we’ll be in a position to bring those to fruition.” Crawford asked Barr if “now Durham is going to pick up this” Huber inquiry, and Barr said, “Yes, right.” Huber’s inquiry did not lead to any “known impacts,” according to a Washington Post report in January. Fox News reported Thursday that “parts of what Huber was investigating in 2017 — involving the Clinton Foundation — have been incorporated in Durham’s investigation.”
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham said in August that “there was a clear double standard by the Department of Justice and FBI when it came to the Trump and Clinton campaigns in 2016.” Senate Finance Chairman Chuck Grassley told Fox News in April 2019 that “if the Democrats want to be consistent, they’ll have to treat Clinton, Uranium One, and Russia-related investigations the same.”
Trump repeatedly invoked allegations of Clinton corruption as part of his “Crooked Hillary” mantra in 2016, and he has continued to tweet about the Clinton Foundation as president, calling it “corrupt” and “disgusting” as he lamented that the Clinton Foundation was “never even looked at” by the New York attorney general and pushed for Sessions to investigate.
Peter Schweizer, the president of the Government Accountability Institute, examined the Clinton Foundation matter for his 2015 book Clinton Cash: The Untold Story of How and Why Foreign Governments and Businesses Helped Make Bill and Hillary Rich.
“The Clintons … often take money from foreign entities. And that money, donated to the Clinton Foundation or paid in speaking fees, comes in amounts much larger than any campaign contribution,” Schweizer wrote, adding, “As a result, the Clintons have become exceedingly wealthy. The big question is whether taking such money constitutes a transaction. The Clintons would undoubtedly argue that it does not. The evidence in this book suggests otherwise.”
The New York Times report Thursday said that Clinton Cash “caught the attention of FBI agents, who viewed some of its contents as additional justification to obtain a subpoena for foundation records,” but former officials said that “top Justice Department officials denied a request in 2016 from senior FBI managers in Washington to secure a subpoena.” The outlet said that “the decision frustrated some agents who believed they had enough evidence beyond the book, including a discussion that touched on the foundation and was captured on a wiretap in an unrelated investigation.”
Fired FBI agent Peter Strzok testified to Congress in June 2018 that the FBI “did not have access” to Clinton Foundation emails that were on Clinton’s private server because of a consent agreement “negotiated between the Department of Justice attorneys and counsel for Clinton.”
Horowitz released a report in 2018 detailing multiple instances in which former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe “lacked candor” in communicating with FBI Director James Comey, FBI investigators, and inspector general investigators about his authorization to leak sensitive information to the Wall Street Journal that revealed the existence of an FBI investigation into the Clinton Foundation. Sessions fired McCabe in March 2018.
Horowitz wrote that McCabe’s actions were “designed to advance his personal interests at the expense of Department leadership” and “an attempt to make himself look good.” McCabe denies wrongdoing and is suing the Justice Department for wrongful termination.
The Justice Department announced in February that it would not be pursuing criminal charges against McCabe.
The New York Times reported in January 2018 that FBI agents had “renewed questions about the dealings of the Clinton Foundation.” The outlet said Thursday that the Clinton Foundation case “sputtered until Mr. Trump was elected,” citing sources who said that in early 2018 the acting U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, Patrick Harris, “issued a grand jury subpoena for foundation records.”
Durham may release an interim report on his investigation prior to the 2020 election.
