The Justice Department’s scrutiny of an Obama-era deal that gave Russia partial control of the U.S. uranium supply has opened the door to the possibility of a new investigation – egged on by the White House.
“If the attorney general feels there’s a need for that investigation, he should absolutely look into that – and obviously he sees cause for it,†White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters on Thursday.
She was reacting to a report that DOJ prosecutors are now pressing FBI agents about a prior probe related to the Uranium One deal which Republican critics have criticized over alleged links to the Clintons. NBC News reported that agents are being asked to explain the evidence they found and whether there was any “improper effort†to stop a prosecution.
It’s all part of a broader effort by the Justice Department, first reported by Fox News, to evaluate GOP calls for the appointment of a second special counsel examining Obama administration-tied controversies. As Fox News reported in November, Attorney General Jeff Sessions directed “senior federal prosecutors†to make recommendations on whether such an appointment is warranted, and whether “any matters not currently under investigation should be opened.â€
Sessions told reporters last week that the DOJ is cooperating with congressional investigators on Uranium One and other issues, including by making available a confidential informant. He said a “senior attorney†has been supplied with “the resources he may need†to review cases and make a recommendation.
As for Uranium One, “I think the end game would be if they found something, they certainly would be potentially capable of reopening the investigation and handling it as though it were an active, ongoing criminal matter,†said Thomas Dupree, former Justice Department official under the George W. Bush administration.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/12/22/doj-scrutiny-opens-door-to-new-uranium-one-investigation.html
