The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) has launched a new investigation into whether the Clinton Foundation engaged in illegal pay-to-play acts or any other illegal activities during Hillary Clinton’s tenure as Secretary of State in the Obama administration.
Law enforcement officials and a witness told The Hill’s John Solomon that FBI agents from Little Rock, Arkansas, which is where the Clinton Foundation originated, are leading the investigation and have already begun interviewing witnesses and are planning more “activities” in the near future. The Hill reports:
The officials, who spoke only on condition of anonymity, said the probe is examining whether the Clintons promised or performed any policy favors in return for largesse to their charitable efforts or whether donors made commitments of donations in hopes of securing government outcomes.
The probe may also examine whether any tax-exempt assets were converted for personal or political use and whether the Foundation complied with applicable tax laws, the officials said.
One witness recently interviewed by the FBI described the session to The Hill as “extremely professional and unquestionably thorough” and focused on questions about whether donors to Clinton charitable efforts received any favorable treatment from the Obama administration on a policy decision previously highlighted in media reports.
Solomon further notes that a report from late last year indicated that multiple FBI offices had already started collecting information on the Clinton Foundation for over a year. An important note from The Hill’s report is the statute of limitations: the limit on “federal felonies is five years and Clinton left office in early 2013.”
Former Clinton White House aide Bruce Lindsey, who oversees the Foundation, Nick Merrill, a spokesman for Hillary Clinton, and Craig Minassian, a spokesman for the Foundation, all did not respond to multiple requests for comment from Solomon.
Prior to The Hill’s report, the Clintons repeatedly pushed the narrative that any investigations or rumors of investigations were part of a right-wing manufactured conspiracy designed to deflect from special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia election probe.