FBI's failure to stop Obama nuclear deal despite Russian plot 'reprehensible': Napolitano
A controversial deal approved by Barack Obama’s administration in 2010 that allowed Russia to purchase a quarter of American uranium reserves, a key resource for developing nuclear weapons, reportedly came at the same time as an FBI discovery of a Russian bribery plot.
Despite its discovery of that plot, which was designed to grow Vladimir Putin’s atomic power through kickbacks, extortion and money laundering, the Department of Justice spent nearly four years investigating the matter, according to The Hill, which first reported the story.
“It is remarkable not that the Obama administration didn’t indict anybody, but that the Trump administration is sitting on this material as well. It’s the same Justice Department,” Fox News senior judicial analyst Judge Andrew Napolitano told FOX Business’ David Asman on “After the Closing Bell.”
The news comes at a time when Russia, and its actions in the United States, are highly suspect after allegations that it intervened in the 2016 presidential election to support President Donald Trump’s candidacy. Special Counsel Robert Mueller is now conducting an investigation into any potential links between Trump and Russia during the campaign.
However, documents and an eyewitness account indicate that Russian nuclear officials also routed millions of dollars to Bill Clinton’s charitable foundation -- at the same time Hillary Clinton was serving as the secretary of state -- in hopes of currying favor with the former president.
Napolitano criticized the FBI and the Justice Department for allowing the Obama administration to move forward with its Moscow nuclear deal at the time.
“This is the same FBI and Justice Department that gave HIllary Clinton a pass on the email scandal, where the evidence to obtain and indict a conviction, where the evidence of guilt was overwhelming,” he said. “This is the same Obama administration that desperately did not want Donald Trump to succeed Barack Obama in the White House. So as reprehensible as this behavior is, it ought not be surprising.”