President Donald Trump hammered the media Thursday for paying more attention to Russian collusion claims than a shady uranium deal with a Russian company approved of by Hillary Clinton, while she was serving as secretary of state.
‘I think that’s your Russia story. That’s your real Russia story. Not a story where they talk about collusion, which there was none. It was hoax’ Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, as he gathered with Puerto Rico’s Gov. Ricardo Rosselló.
The Senate is now sniffing around the Uranium One deal, which gave 20 percent of the country’s uranium to Russia, as parties associated with the deal were giving money to the Clinton Foundation – and the company itself was being investigated in an FBI probe.
Trump told reporters that it was the story of ‘the decade’ and slammed the mainstream media for not reporting it.
‘And frankly it’s a disgrace,’ Trump said. ‘It’s a disgrace and it’s a disgrace that the fake news won’t cover it. It’s so sad.’
A number of outlets reported Wednesday that Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley stated in letters to agencies that he is looking into potential ‘conflicts of interest’ that Hillary Clinton may have had when she sat on the committee that approved the Uranium One transaction.
President Trump spoke about the questionable Uranium One deal in the Oval Office Thursday, calling it ‘your real Russia story,’ as it hits political rival Hillary Clinton
The deal that took place while Clinton was secretary of state has attracted the attention of the Senate
Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley said Wednesday that he is looking into potential ‘conflicts of interest’ that Hillary Clinton may have had when she sat on the committee that approved the Uranium One transaction
Grassley also said Wednesday that his investigation will center on aRussian uranium deal that was approved by the Obama administration despite an ongoing FBI investigation of the company concerned, Uranium One.
‘It turns out during the transaction, the Justice Department had an ongoing criminal investigation for bribery, extortion and money laundering into officials for the Russian company making that purchase,’ Grassley said during a Capitol Hill hearing. ‘While all of this was going on, the Clinton Foundation reportedly received millions of dollars from interested parties in the transaction.’
The Hill newspaper also reported that a key FBI informant, an American businessman with knowledge of the Russian nuclear industry’s efforts to woo the Clintons and the Obama administration, was blocked by President Obama’s Justice Department last year from telling Congress what he knew.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, is trying to get to the bottom of the Russian uranium deal. He finds it suspicious that involved parties had donated to the Clinton Foundation
Trump picked up on the story this morning, tagging Fox & Friends in one of the messages – an indication that he’d been watching author Peter Schweizer’s appearance on the program
Peter Schweizer is the author of the book Clinton Cash. He hopped on Fox this morning to comment on Sen. Chuck Grassley’s announcement
In 2010, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States approved a deal that allowed Russia’s Rosatom nuclear company to buy Canadian mining company Uranium One, which controlled about 20 percent of the U.S.’s uranium deposits, which was why the multi-agency committee was involved.
Sitting on that committee were former Attorney General Eric Holder and former Secretary of State Clinton, whose husband, ex-President Bill Clinton, had collected speaking fees and Clinton Foundation donations by parties associated with the deal.
Details about the donations were previously revealed in author Peter Schweizer’s book, Clinton Cash.
Schweizer appeared Thursday morning on Fox & Friends, with President Trump tweeting ‘Russia sent millions to Clinton Foundation’ and tagging the morning show, indicating that he had tuned in.
Trump also tweeted, ‘Uranium deal to Russia, with Clinton help and Obama Administration knowledge, is the biggest story that Fake Media doesn’t want to follow!’
However, the New York Times had investigated the deal as Schweizer’s book was coming out and agreed with many of the authors findings: that interested parties had indeed flowed money to the Clinton Foundation as Secretary of State Clinton made her determination.
‘Whether the donations played any role in the approval of the uranium deal is unknown,’ the Times report said.
‘But the episode underscores the special ethical challenges presented by the Clinton Foundation, headed by a former president who relied heavily on foreign cash to accumulate $250 million in assets even as his wife helped steer American foreign policy as secretary of state, presiding over decisions with the potential to benefit the foundation’s donors,’ it continued.
Now there’s a new layer to the story, as the Hill newspaper reported this week that the FBI had uncovered a Russian bribery plot in 2009 and 2010, before the committee green-lit the deal.
The Justice Department also waited until 2014 to bring any charges.
Grassley wants to find out why.
He told his Senate committee Wednesday, in front of witness Attorney General Jeff Sessions, that he had sent 10 letters out last week asking questions about who in the government knew about the FBI probe and when.
‘In my letter, I asked the agencies involved in approving the transaction if they were aware of the criminal probe and the intelligence operation examining Russian activity,’ Grassley explained.
Former President Bill Clinton was given Clinton Foundation dollars and speaking fees by parties associated with the Russian uranium deal – while his wife, then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, had to approve of it for it to go through
The Iowa Republican also asserted that ‘Russians involved in the conspiracy were reportedly coordinating with high-level officials, close to Vladimir Putin.
Turning his attention to Sessions, Grassley asked, ‘What are you doing to find out how a Russian takeover of American uranium was allowed to occur despite criminal conduct by a Russian company that the Obama administration approved to make the purchase?’
Sessions said he heard Grassley’s concerns and promised they would be reviewed.
‘It wouldn’t be appropriate for me to comment on any ongoing investigation,’ Sessions also said.
If Sessions’ Justice Department did probe the deal it would be a marked difference from how the Obama administration’s Justice Department handled it, according to the lawyer representing the FBI’s informant, according to the Hill.
Lawyer Victoria Toensing, who worked in the Reagan Justice Department and was the former chief counsel of the Senate Judiciary Committee, told the paper Tuesday she is working with lawmakers to push the Trump Justice Department or the FBI in freeing up her client to speak with members of Congress.
She told the Hill that her client possesses details on how Russian executives facilitated the 2010 Uranium One deal, sending millions of dollars in Russian nuclear funds to an entity that was then supporting the Clinton Foundation.
But last year, during the presidential election, he was not allowed to speak out, having signed a non-disclosure agreement at the behest of the FBI.
‘There was corruption going on and it was never brought forward. And in fact, the sale of the uranium went on despite the government knowing about all of this corruption. So he’s coming forward,’ Toensing told the paper. ‘He wants the right thing to be done, but he cannot do it unless he is released from the NDA.’
Schweizer took credit for the FBI’s investigation and Grassley’s inquiry in his Thursday appearance on Fox. He further urged the FBI to lift its gag order on the secret, Uranium One witness.
‘There is absolutely no reason, I think, any justification, for this guy to be under a gag order anymore,’ Schweizer said. ‘Let him testify before Congress. Let him go to the media and tell his story and then people can decide what they think about what he has to say.’