Clinton Foundation inquiry reviewed with Russia probe
WASHINGTON — John Durham, the U.S. attorney in Connecticut assigned by Attorney General William Barr to review the Russia inquiry, has sought documents and interviews about how federal law enforcement officials handled an investigation around the same time into allegations of political corruption at the Clinton Foundation, according to people familiar with the matter.
Durham’s team members have suggested to others that they are comparing the two investigations as well as examining whether investigators in the Russia inquiry flouted laws or policies. It was not clear whether Durham’s investigators were similarly looking for violations in the Clinton Foundation investigation, nor whether the comparison would be included or play a major role in the outcome of Durham’s inquiry.
The Clinton Foundation investigation began about five years ago, under the Obama administration, and stalled in part because some former career law enforcement officials viewed the case as too weak to issue subpoenas. Ultimately, prosecutors in Arkansas secured a subpoena for the charity in early 2018. To date, the case has not resulted in criminal charges.
Some former law enforcement officials declined to talk to Durham’s team about the foundation investigation because they felt the nature of his inquiry was highly unusual, according to people familiar with the investigation. Durham’s staff members sought information about the debate over the subpoenas that the FBI tried to obtain in 2016 and have also approached current agents about the matter, but it is not clear what they told investigators.
A spokesman for Durham declined to comment.
“The Clinton Foundation has regularly been subjected to baseless, politically motivated allegations, and time after time these allegations have been proven false,” the foundation said in a statement.
Some news media outlets and prominent Republicans suspect leadership and the Justice Department under the Obama administration were biased in favor of Hillary Clinton. They have accused agents and prosecutors of investigating President Donald Trump and his associates while moving more cautiously on allegations of corruption at the Clinton Foundation and Clinton’s use of a private email server to conduct government business while secretary of state.
“There was a clear double standard by the Department of Justice and FBI when it came to the Trump and Clinton campaigns in 2016,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
In the Russia investigation, FBI officials did take steps such as obtaining a secret wiretap to eavesdrop on a former Trump adviser.
Barr has repeatedly attacked the Russia inquiry as Durham has investigated it, calling it “one of the greatest travesties in American history.” Barr’s statements have raised hopes among the president’s supporters that Durham will unearth evidence of a plot to sabotage Trump’s campaign and presidency.
So far, only one person has been charged with criminal wrongdoing: Kevin Clinesmith, a former FBI lawyer who pleaded guilty to altering an email that investigators relied on to renew an application for a secret wiretap on former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.
The president and his Republican allies have tried to cast the Clinton Foundation as corrupt, accusing her of taking steps as secretary of state to support the interests of foundation donors.
The foundation case — which had been spread among FBI field offices in Little Rock, New York, Los Angeles and Washington — sputtered until Trump was elected. In early 2018, Patrick Harris, a career prosecutor in Little Rock, issued a grand jury subpoena for foundation records, two former law enforcement officials familiar with the investigation said.
A foundation official confirmed that the charity was served with a subpoena and complied with the request for information.