DOJ Lifts Gag Order on FBI Informant in Obama-era Uranium One Bribery Case

The Justice Department announced Wednesday night that it has rescinded a confidentiality agreement between the FBI and a former FBI informant involved in the Uranium One Russia bribery case, clearing the way for the individual to tell Congress what he knows about the Russian nuclear industry’s attempts to influence policy during the Obama administration.

The DOJ said in a statement that it had authorized the informant to speak to the leaders of the Senate Judiciary Committee, the House Oversight Committee, and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, as well as select staffers.

The FBI informant at the center of the Uranium One/Clinton Foundation scandal had been blocked by the Obama Justice Department from telling Congress about the corruption he witnessed related to Obama-era uranium deals with Russia.

The corruption allegedly included bribery, kickbacks, extortion, money-laundering, and Russia getting control of 20% of our uranium in what may turn out to be the biggest scandal this country has ever seen.

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.

Via Fox News:

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.

House Intelligence Committee Chair Devin Nunes announced on Tuesday that his committee was opening an investigation into the Uranium One deal:

.@DevinNunes: "We are here today to announce an inquiry into Russia's involvement into the uranium deal that was done several years ago." pic.twitter.com/qlxwBxmHoZ

— FOX Business (@FoxBusiness) October 24, 2017

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) suggested that the Justice Department appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the case.

Whoever in DOJ is capable w authority to appoint a special counsel shld do so to investigate Uranium One "whoever" means if u aren't recused

— ChuckGrassley (@ChuckGrassley) October 25, 2017

D.C. Attorney Victoria Toensing, a former chief counsel of the Senate Intelligence Committee, is representing the informant, an American businessman who worked for years undercover as an FBI confidential witness.

Toensing said that when her client attempted to bring some of the allegations to light in a lawsuit last year, “the Obama Justice Department threatened him with loss of freedom. They said they would bring a criminal case against him for violating the nondisclosure agreement.”

She appeared on Hannity Wednesday night along with the two journalists who broke the story, The Hill’s John Solomon and Circa News’ Sara Carter, to discuss the new developments.

According to Toensing, the informant in 2010 had gathered overwhelming evidence in the form of emails, documents and tapes that show bribery, racketeering, money laundering and extortion before the Uranium One deal was brokered.

“He can put a lot of meat on those bones,” she said. “He can give context and he can tell about conversations the Russians had — about what they were doing with various piles of money.”