Prosecutor Investigating Barr Is All Set To Look Into Clinton Foundation

Nikki Attkisson | Last Updated : September 25, 2020

According to a report from The New York Times, Ohn Durham, who is also the federal prosecutor investigating the FBI’s Russia investigation of Attorney General William Barr, has requested details on the foundation of the Clinton and has asked for a complete new report for the same. The Times confirmed Thursday that Durham sought documents and interviews about how federal authorities treated a probe about charges of wrongdoing at the charity of Bill and Hillary Clinton, citing individuals familiar with the matter.

Prosecutor investigating Barr is all set to look into Clinton foundation

The times have come forward and are confused about why these things are coming up when the elections will be held. Last year, Barr tapped Durham to investigate the 2016 FBI investigation’s roots in Russia and the Trump campaign. Still, the Times story on Thursday indicates that Durham’s investigation’s scope is not completely correct and looked partial. According to the Times, Durham’s team recommended to others that they look into whether the investigators in the Russian investigation flouted laws or policies — and that they contrasted the FBI Russia investigation with the Clinton Foundation investigation. The Times reported that it is unknown whether Durham’s team was searching for similar violations in the FBI’s Clinton Foundation investigation. It was also unclear whether the contrast between the two FBI inquiries would weigh on the outcome of Barr’s Durham inquiry, the newspaper said.

Former law enforcement officials refused to discuss the charity investigation with the Durham team, because, according to the Times, they treated it as extremely irregular. Durham’s spokesperson refused to give the Times a statement. The investigation has to face a slow-motion approach because of the pandemic and the lockdown. But now, as the relaxations have been given, Durham has opened the case again and is all set to give a good and clear report. There have been a lot of wrong speculations, but the report is expected to uncover a lot of things. Speculation about the status of Durham’s analysis of the source of the Russian investigation only increased with the resignation of Norah Dannehy, a top aide earlier this month, and statements by Congressional Republicans indicating that updates could be revealed soon.

After working closely with the U.S. attorney for Connecticut for years, Dannehy, a top aide to Durham, resigned Friday. Durham’s office announced her exit, but the backstory was not expanded on. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., indicated earlier this month that Durham’s inquiry changes were on the horizon. This came after recently released documents from the Justice Department revealed that several phones belonging to members of the team of former Special Counsel Robert Mueller were stripped of information due to lost passcodes, irreparable screen damage, computer malfunction, deliberate deletion, or other causes, all before the office of the Justice Department inspector general could check the devices. In a statement, the Clinton Foundation told the Times that it was routinely subjected to unfounded, politically motivated accusations. These accusations have been proved false time after time.

FBI agents from four field offices launched preliminary inquiries before the 2016 election into whether there was any impropriety in the Clinton Foundation’s relations with donors. In 2018, CNN confirmed that the FBI and federal prosecutors actively began investigating whether donors from the Clinton Foundation were illegally offered policy concessions or preferential access to Hillary Clinton when she was State Secretary in return for contributions to the organization, as well as whether tax-exempt funds were misused. The Times confirmed that a grand jury subpoena for foundation documents was issued in 2018 and compiled by the charity. The Clinton Foundation has been accused by President Donald Trump and Republicans of being a crooked and opaque organization, although the foundation has often denied allegations of pay-for-play.

Congressional Democrats have raised questions about Durham’s investigation, asking whether it is being misused for political reasons. Fox News confirmed that Durham, who was appointed by Attorney General William Barr to investigate Crossfire Hurricane, the FBI’s operation to explore any links between the Russians and President Trump’s 2016 campaign, will integrate the foundation’s investigation by U.S. Attorney John Huber into his study. In November 2017, former Attorney General Jeff Sessions instructed Huber to examine some problems surrounding the selling of Uranium One and other deals linked to the Clinton Foundation, the charity run by Bill and Hillary Clinton. At the demand of house republicans, Sessions tapped Huber.

Huber, the U.S. counsel for Utah, had also been investigating the FBI’s handling of the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails and claims that “policies and protocols” were not followed. Fox News confirmed that the success of Huber’s investigation has come under pressure from the Justice Department and the White House. Some people are aware that Huber has not done anything, and the Justice Department and the White House have been criticized, a source told Fox News. People who were thinking about what he did or didn’t do, and many believe that Huber didn’t dig deep enough or work hard enough. On Thursday, the New York Times first revealed that Durham requested records and interviews about how federal law enforcement authorities examined the foundation’s political corruption claims.

The newspaper’s article said Durham team members indicated that they were contrasting the two investigations and whether investigators broke any Russian inquiry procedures. It said it was unclear whether the people of Durham were looking at the foundation investigation to discover similar violations. Shortly after then-special counsel Robert Mueller concluded his review of Russian involvement in the 2016 election. Whether there was any collusion between the Trump campaign and Moscow, Durham was assigned to mount his investigation. The source told Fox News that Durham does not want this to be seen politically and may punish it after the election. In a statement to the Times, the foundation said, The Clinton Foundation has been repeatedly subjected to unfounded, politically motivated accusations. These accusations have been proved false time after time. With all eyes on the elections, this theory might turn out to be the worse one for Trump and will not be in his favor.


Nikki Attkisson

With over 15 years as a practicing journalist, Nikki Attkisson found herself at Powdersville Post now after working at several other publications. She is an award-winning journalist with an entrepreneurial spirit and worked as a journalist covering technology, innovation, environmental issues, politics, health etc. Nikki Attkisson has also worked on product development, content strategy, and editorial management for numerous media companies. She began her career at local news stations and worked as a reporter in national newspapers.

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