FBI Witness Silenced by Obama Administration to Testify to Congress

DOJ has lifted gag order on FBI witness with knowledge of Russian bribery campaign surrounding uranium deal

The U.S. Capitol Building on July 27, 2017 in Washington. Zach Gibson/Getty Images

The FBI was aware of a Russian government operation to expand its influence on the U.S. uranium market using bribery, kickbacks, extortion, and money laundering.

It was also aware that the Russians had identified the Clintons as targets for influence. Bill Clinton later gave a speech in Russia, and the Russians paid the Clinton Foundation $500,000 the same month that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton greenlit a deal that gave Russia control of 20 percent of America’s uranium.

After a key witness went to the FBI with recordings and evidence of the Russian plot, he was asked to sign a non-disclosure agreement. The Obama administration’s Justice Department then threatened him with criminal charges if he spoke to Congress.

On Oct. 25, that gag order was lifted by the Department of Justice, and the once-silenced witness is now cleared to speak with Congress about the Obama-era uranium deals.

Justice Department spokesman Ian Prior said in a statement, that “as of tonight,” the department authorized the informant to disclose “any information or documents he has concerning alleged corruption or bribery involving transactions in the uranium market.”

Prior said he authorized the release, according to The Washington Free Beacon, to “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 staff .”

Details on the Russian bribery operation were released by The Hill on Oct. 17, which reports Russian nuclear officials “routed millions of dollars to the United States designed to benefit former President Bill Clinton’s charitable foundation,” and the payments were made while Hillary Clinton “served on a government body that provided a favorable decision to Moscow.”

The $500,000 paid by Russia to the Clinton Foundation was just part of the payments made to the Clintons around the time of the Uranium One deal. The New York Times reported in April 2015 that as Russia assumed control of Uranium One between 2009 and 2013, “a flow of cash made its way to the Clinton Foundation” and that the contributions “were not publicly disclosed by the Clintons, despite an agreement Mrs. Clinton had struck with the Obama White House to publicly identify all donors.”

The FBI was aware of these deals at a time when the agency was led by Robert Mueller, who is now the special counsel charged with investigating alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential race. Mueller allegedly turned a blind eye to the Russians as they drew close to the Clintons.

Former FBI Director Robert Mueller, special counsel on the Russian investigation, leaves following a meeting with members of the US Senate Judiciary Committee at the US Capitol in Washington on June 21, 2017. SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images

WikiLeaks revealed leaked documents showing that Mueller personally delivered samples of highly enriched uranium to Russia in 2009.

The website Offended America on Oct. 23 reported on SEC filings showing that Mueller has financial investments tied to Russia, which it says means “that Robert Mueller gains financially if the Russian market does well.” According to the website, Mueller’s investments “could present a clear conflict of interest in how he carries out his investigation into Russian interference.”

An unnamed source familiar with the FBI evidence told The Hill, “There is not one shred of doubt from the evidence that we had that the Russians had set their sights on Hillary Clinton’s circle, because she was the quarterback of the Obama–Russian reset strategy and the assumed successor to Obama as president.”

After the new revelations were revealed, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), on Oct. 18, sent a series of letters to 10 federal agencies requesting that the witness, who was blocked from speaking by the Obama administration, be allowed to testify on his knowledge of the Russian campaign.

In his letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions, he asked for a copy of the nondisclosure agreement the witness was allegedly asked to sign, and asked the Justice Department to release the witness to testify and “pledge not to engage in any form of retaliation against him for good faith communications with Congress.”

Grassley said the restrictions “appear to improperly prevent the individual from making critical, good faith disclosures to Congress of potential wrongdoing.”

“They also purport to limit the Committee’s access to information it needs to fulfill its constitutional responsibility of oversight,” the senator wrote. “This Committee has oversight jurisdiction of the Justice Department, and if this NDA does in fact exist, it hinders the Committee’s ability to do its job.”

Grassley followed up on his letters with a Tweet on Oct. 24, stating, “Whoever in DOJ is capable w authority to appoint a special counsel shld do so to investigate Uranium One ‘whoever’ means if u aren’t recused.”