A recent report by Special Counsel John Durham has shed some new light on the FBI’s investigations about Hillary and Bill Clinton.
This long-awaited report talks about several investigations that were stopped just before the 2016 presidential elections. A group of Republicans are now asking for these investigations to be restarted.
Despite Durham’s detailed investigation not finding any dirt on the Clintons or the Clinton Foundation, Republicans are trying to use this report to look back into issues that have already been thoroughly investigated for years.
The Clinton Foundation’s representative was quick to disagree with the misconduct claims, reminding folks that the Durham report actually highlights that there’s no supporting evidence for these allegations. They also mentioned previous investigations by the Justice Department during the Trump administration and by House Republicans in 2018, which ended without finding any wrongdoing.
As per the report, the FBI started an investigation in 2014 after a secret informant claimed possible illegal donations from two foreign governments to Hillary Clinton’s campaign in hopes of getting special treatment.
This informant supported their claims with proof of an illegal $2,700 donation, which led to an even bigger donation. The report reveals that three FBI field offices – in Washington, DC, Little Rock, Arkansas, and New York – started investigating possible shady dealings linked to the Clinton Foundation in 2016.
Even though these investigations made some progress, they were stopped by senior officials, according to Durham’s report. This information has reignited calls from Republicans, both past and present, for a review of the alleged criminal actions related to the Clintons.
Matt Gaetz, a Republican Representative from Florida and part of the House Judiciary Committee’s subcommittee looking into political bias in the FBI, expressed his worries about the Clintons. Gaetz pointed out that he believes some folks in the FBI were trying to protect the Clintons from criminal charges. Similarly, former Republican congressman Jason Chaffetz, who was once the chair of the House Oversight Committee, criticized the FBI for not doing their job and called for the Clinton investigations to be restarted.
The hefty 316-page report, handed over to Attorney General Merrick Garland on May 12, revealed info about the FBI’s investigations into the Clintons. It pointed out a big difference between the detailed investigation into Trump’s supposed connections with Russia by the FBI and Justice Department, and their seemingly less tough approach towards the Clinton investigations.
The report looked into a January 2016 discovery by the Little Rock Field Office, suggesting a federal public official might have taken big money donations for government favors through a nonprofit they controlled. The report also referred to sources claiming foreign governments tried to get special treatment from Clinton by donating to the Clinton Foundation.