Probe of Clinton charitable group reopened by FBI
WASHINGTON — FBI agents have renewed asking questions about the dealings of the Clinton Foundation amid calls from President Trump and top Republicans for the Justice Department to take a fresh look at politically charged accusations of corruption.
People familiar with the FBI’s steps said Friday that agents have interviewed people connected to the foundation about whether any donations were made in exchange for political favors while Hillary Clinton was secretary of state from 2009-2013.
Career prosecutors shut down that investigation in 2016 for lack of evidence.
During the presidential campaign, Trump branded his rival “Crooked Hillary” and promised to send her to jail if he won. He struck a more magnanimous tone after the election, however, and said he had no interest in pushing for a prosecution.
That has changed as Trump’s legal problems have mounted. With four former aides facing federal charges and a special prosecutor investigating him and his campaign, Trump has resumed his attack on his favorite target. He has openly called for Clinton to be investigated and one of her top aides to be imprisoned.
His calls break with longstanding presidential practice. Since the Watergate scandal, the Justice Department has conducted criminal investigations largely free of White House political influence. Trump, by contrast, has declared he has “absolute authority” over the Justice Department.
The FBI’s decision to take additional investigative steps is sure to outrage Democrats who will see the investigation as an attempt by Attorney General Jeff Sessions to placate the president.
The Justice Department, in a letter sent in November to the House Judiciary Committee, said prosecutors would examine allegations that donations to the Clinton Foundation were tied to a 2010 decision by the Obama administration to allow a Russian nuclear agency to buy Uranium One, a company that owned access to uranium in the United States, and other issues.
The letter appeared to be a direct response to Trump’s statement days earlier that he was disappointed with Sessions for not investigating Clinton.
It is not clear when the FBI renewed its interest in the Clinton Foundation, or whether agents were instructed by anyone in Washington to start investigating again.