The Department of Justice announced late Thursday night it has lifted a gag order on an FBI informant with first hand knowledge of the Uranium One deal that personally benefited Bill and Hillary Clinton. The informant, whose identity will not be revealed, will be allowed to speak to the Senate Judiciary Committee and others on Capitol Hill investigating the situation.
“As of tonight, the Department of Justice has authorized the informant to disclose to the Chairmen and Ranking Members of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, as well as one member of each of their staffs, any information or documents he has concerning alleged corruption or bribery involving transactions in the uranium market, including but not limited to anything related to Vadim Mikerin, Rosatom, Tenex, Uranium One, or the Clinton Foundation,” DOJ official Ian Prior released in a statement.
The lifting of the gag order comes after an explosive investigative report from The Hill showed the Clintons were made richer by Russian nuclear officials after Hillary Clinton helped to approve a deal giving the Kremlin 20 percent of U.S. uranium supply.
Before the Obama administration approved a controversial deal in 2010 giving Moscow control of a large swath of American uranium, the FBI had gathered substantial evidence that Russian nuclear industry officials were engaged in bribery, kickbacks, extortion and money laundering designed to grow Vladimir Putin’s atomic energy business inside the United States, according to government documents and interviews.
Federal agents used a confidential U.S. witness working inside the Russian nuclear industry to gather extensive financial records, make secret recordings and intercept emails as early as 2009 that showed Moscow had compromised an American uranium trucking firm with bribes and kickbacks in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, FBI and court documents show.They also obtained an eyewitness account — backed by documents — indicating Russian nuclear officials had routed millions of dollars to the U.S. designed to benefit former President Bill Clinton’s charitable foundation during the time Secretary of State Hillary Clinton served on a government body that provided a favorable decision to Moscow, sources told The Hill.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley has called on the Justice Department to appoint a special counsel to investigate the sale.
Hillary Clinton calls the accusations of pay-for-pay surrounding Uranium One “bologna.”
