A newly declassified timeline that FBI Director Kash Patel obtained exposes how political interference from the Justice Department and FBI leadership sabotaged the Clinton Foundation investigation during the 2016 election. The timeline and a bombshell 2017 memo reveal how career agents in New York City, Little Rock, Ark., and Washington faced repeated roadblocks from figures like then-Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates and former Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe, all while the agencies relentlessly pursued the baseless Russia collusion probe against Donald Trump. The documents paint a stark picture of obstruction at the highest levels, undermining efforts to investigate potential pay-to-play corruption involving Hillary Clinton and her family foundation.
“‘Shut it down!’ Yates reportedly demanded, according to a detailed timeline of political roadblocks documented by agents in New York City, Little Rock, and Washington.
According to a report from Just the News, agents attempting to determine potential crimes related to Hillary Clinton's family foundation, which solicited hundreds of millions from foreign and U.S. interests while she served as secretary of state, found little support.
The timeline — written by a DOJ lawyer assigned to the FBI under former bureau Director James Comey — was recently secured by top aides to Patel along with several corroborating internal emails and was obtained by Just the News. Together, they make clear that both the DOJ and former Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe placed significant impediments in front of agents who believed they had evidence to justify a public integrity criminal case.
The declassified timeline revealed that as early as February 2016, the Justice Department “indicated they would not be supportive of an FBI investigation.” The timeline also shows that, in mid-February 2016, McCabe ordered that “no overt investigative steps” were allowed to be taken in the Clinton Foundation investigation “without his approval” — a command he allegedly repeated numerous times over the coming months.
While bureaucratic and political interference strangled the Clinton probes, FBI memos show how McCabe later actively kept the Russia investigation alive and escalated efforts against Trump, including pushing for a special counsel. This stark contrast underscores a Justice Department and FBI willing to publicly exonerate Clinton for her mishandling of classified emails, while aggressively pursuing unsubstantiated theories targeting Trump.
Among the most damaging revelations is McCabe's role; he not only stymied the Clinton Foundation investigation for nearly a year but also apparently misled investigators under oath about leaking information to the media. His partial recusal just days before the 2016 election effectively neutered the probe. Meanwhile, former Attorney General Loretta Lynch’s private meeting with Bill Clinton and the subsequent lack of recusal or serious investigation further highlight the political shielding of the Clintons.
The timeline detailed how Yates ordered one of the federal prosecutors to “shut it down” likely in the March 2016 timeframe. Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York (SDNY) and Eastern District of New York (EDNY) purportedly said in August 2016 that they “would not support the investigation” into the Clinton Foundation, according to the timeline, and that “no explanation was given.”
Once the investigation had essentially been delayed for a year and dragged past the November 2016 election, the timeline shows that DOJ officials under Trump then began to raise their “concerns regarding the statute of limitations” around the investigation, with one still unnamed official saying that they “wanted to close this chapter and move forward.”
Even when U.S. attorneys in August 2017 expressed willingness to pursue the Clinton probe, DOJ ordered them to "stand down," effectively snuffing out the inquiry. By contrast, the Trump-Russia collusion investigation saw relentless resources and oversight, underscoring the politicization of justice.
Recommended: Gavin Newsom’s Gerrymandering Scheme Just Hit a Snag
This timeline adds to growing evidence that Justice Department and FBI leadership deliberately undermined investigations into the Clintons while weaponizing their authority against political opponents. The disparity between the kid-gloves treatment of Hillary Clinton and the brass-knuckles campaign against Donald Trump remains the clearest example of institutional bias undermining American justice during that period. In light of these revelations, ongoing investigations into potential criminal conspiracies within law enforcement and intelligence overreach gain renewed urgency.
It’s stories like this that make me furious when Democrats attempt to claim “no one is above the law” because their entire modus operandi is to protect their own and weaponize the government against their enemies. How much more proof do we need showing that Obama’s Justice Department weaponized the FBI and the Justice Department to not only protect Hillary Clinton, but to sabotage Trump? Then consider how lucky we are that Trump won in 2017, because then we’d have never known just how bad things were.
The criminal shielding of the Clintons by FBI and DOJ leadership is the clear face of institutional corruption. While the mainstream covers it up, PJ Media isn't afraid to expose the truth. Use promo code FIGHT for 60% off PJ Media VIP membership today. Enjoy exclusive content, ad-free browsing, and comment privileges. The time to take a stand is now—don’t wait, join PJ Media VIP!
Join the conversation as a VIP Member