The Justice Department said Wednesday night that it
had lifted a gag order on a former FBI informant involved in a
high-profile Russia bribery case, clearing the individual to speak to
Congress about Moscow’s Obama-era uranium deals in the U.S. market and
other schemes.
In a statement, the department said
it had authorized the informant to speak to the leaders of the Senate
Judiciary Committee, House Oversight Committee, and the House Permanent
Select Committee on Intelligence, in addition to select staffers.
The department said the informant could provide “any
information or documents he has concerning alleged corruption or bribery
involving transactions in the uranium market,” including Russian
company Rosatom, subsidiary Tenex, Uranium One and the Clinton
Foundation.Uranium One refers to the name of a Canada-based company with mines in the U.S. that was bought by Rosatom, a company backed by the Russian state. The State Department, then led by Hillary Clinton, was one of nine U.S. government agencies that had to approve the deal back in 2010.
All three congressional committees launched investigations after The Hill reported that the FBI had evidence that Russian nuclear officials were involved in fraudulent dealings – including extortion, bribery and kickbacks – as far back as 2009 in a case involving Rosatom’s subsidiary, Tenex. Congressional Republicans have since questioned how the Uranium One deal was approved the following year by an inter-agency committee, and sought to gain access to the informant.
Republicans also have raised concerns about efforts by interested parties to influence the Clintons – citing donations to the Clinton Foundation as well as a $500,000 speaking fee received in Russia by former President Bill Clinton, who reportedly met with Vladimir Putin around the time of the deal.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, tweeted Tuesday that the Justice Department should appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the Uranium One deal.
The informant's attorney, Victoria Toensing, told Fox Business Network Monday that her client can "tell what all the Russians were talking about during the time that all these bribery payments were made." The informant earlier was prevented from testifying by former attorneys general Eric Holder and Loretta Lynch, according to Toensing, after having signed a non-disclosure agreement.
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