Aug 14, 02:52 AM

Declassified Memo Shows Obama-Era Officials Halted Clinton Foundation Probe

Newly declassified FBI and Justice Department records indicate senior Obama-era officials repeatedly blocked a 2016–17 public-corruption investigation into the Clinton Foundation. A 2017 timeline, written by a Justice Department lawyer assigned to the bureau and made public this week, quotes then-Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates telling prosecutors to “shut it down” and describes former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe requiring his personal approval before agents could take any overt investigative steps. The documents, located by current FBI Director Kash Patel and reviewed by investigative journalists, show that field offices in New York, Little Rock and Washington opened parallel cases in January 2016 to examine whether donors received favorable treatment from Hillary Clinton while she was Secretary of State. Within weeks, officials in the Criminal Division told agents the department would not back subpoenas or grand-jury work; by mid-2016 the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York also refused assistance, according to the timeline. Internal emails detail additional roadblocks: McCabe ordered agents not to recruit new confidential sources without his consent, and prosecutors in Arkansas said Yates directed them to stand down. After the 2016 election, Justice Department officials raised concerns about statutes of limitation, and the Biden-era department formally closed the matter in August 2021, the records show. Attorney General Pam Bondi has now authorized a strike force and a grand jury to examine whether the earlier interference violated obstruction or other statutes. The Justice Department is seeking cooperation from current and former officials involved in the original probe. Yates, McCabe and the Clinton Foundation have not responded to requests for comment.