Senate Judiciary Chair Calls For Special Prosecutor Probe Of ‘Uranium One’ Deal

Hillary Clinton is back in the crosshairs of Congressional investigators after two House committees launched investigations into the circumstances surrounding the Obama-era Uranium One deal more than a year after suspicions of a quid-pro-quo were first raised by Peter Schweizer in his infamous “Clinton Cash” expose.

The Hill breathed new life into those allegations last week when it reported on an FBI investigation into attempts by Russian nuclear industry officials at the US-based subsidiary of Rosatom (the Russian nuclear agency)  to bribe and extort their way into control of Canada-based Uranium One – and by extension, the 20% of US uranium assets it controls.

And now that the Uranium One story has found its way back into mainstream consciousness, Chuck Grassley, the widely respected head of the Senate Judiciary Committee, is calling for the DOJ to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the deal. The thinking is, presumably, if Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein felt comfortable appointing a prosecutor to dig into possible collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign, he should be equally comfortable appointing a prosecutor to investigate these serious allegations from the Obama era. “Whoever in DOJ is capable” of launching an investigation into Uranium One should go ahead and do so, Grassley tweeted.

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

Earlier this month, Grassley’s committee became the first to launch a probe into the Uranium One deal. Last night, it was joined by two House committees after House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes said House Intel and the House Oversight and Government Reform Committees would be seeking to learn whether there was in fact an official FBI investigation into the Uranium One deal, and if so, why Congress wasn’t informed.

In addition, the chairmen of the House Judiciary and Oversight committees yesterday announced a joint investigation into the FBI’s handling of a probe into Clinton’s use of a private email server after emails showed earlier this month that former FBI Director James Comey drafted a letter exonerating Clinton before the investigation had been officially completed.

Looking ahead, we wonder if Grassley will be joined by Dianne Feinstein, the ranking Democrat on Grassley’s committee who has previously expressed support for an investigation into Clinton’s campaign-era conduct (specifically whether the Clinton’s improperly colluded with former AG Loretta Lynch) or perhaps some other Democrat.