FBI memos detail a half dozen pay-to-play allegations involving Hillary Clinton and her foundation

Internal investigative files show FBI agents and federal prosecutors attempted to investigate a wide range of activities involving the State Department under then-Secretary of State Clinton a decade ago, including whether foreign donations made to the Clinton Foundation were used as improper influence on U.S. foreign policy.

The FBI and DOJ inquiries were repeatedly shut down by FBI and DOJ leadership. 

Just the News reported earlier this week about Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley’s release of a timeline written by federal investigators laying out the repeated political obstruction those agents faced from their own bureau bosses and the Justice Department during the 2016 election and beyond as they probed whether Hillary Clinton engaged in a pay-to-play corruption scheme involving her family foundation.

The documents turned over by FBI Director Kash Patel and Attorney General Pam Bondi show that career agents and line prosecutors at the FBI and DOJ believed the Clinton Foundation saga may have been a criminal one, but orders from leaders such as then-Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates and then-FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe slow-walked and stonewalled the inquiry to the point where it was hobbled.

An internal investigative timeline stated that the FBI’s New York Field Office “initiated a Preliminary Investigation” on January 22, the Little Rock Field Office “initiated a Full Field Investigation” on January 27, and the Washington Field Office “initiated a Preliminary Investigation" on January 29, 2016.

Another internal timeline of the investigation said that the FBI’s Little Rock Field Office “submits case opening requesting full field investigation regarding Clinton Giustra Enterprise Partnership, Clinton Giustra Sustainable Growth Initiative, Uranium One, Uranium One Americas, Frank Giustra, Ian Telfer.”

No cases were brought against Clinton. Below are some of the episodes in which investigations were stymied.

The Uranium One saga

The sale of the Canada-based Uranium One to the Russian state-owned Rosatom was the focus of great controversy and scrutiny from Republicans and others who argued that then-Secretary of State Clinton helped approve the deal and that the Clinton Foundation may have stood to benefit from it.

The New York Times in 2015 described Ian Telfer as a “mining investor who was chairman of Uranium One when an arm of the Russian government, Rosatom, acquired it.” The outlet reported that Telfer had donated $2.35 million to the Clinton Foundation.

FBI agents and DOJ prosecutors in Little Rock, Arkansas and elsewhere closely scrutinized the scandal — but were largely blocked from serious investigative action due to leadership delays and, following those delays, arguments that the statute of limitations had run out.

Uranium One was a Canadian company that mined uranium around the world, with assets in Eurasia, Africa, and North America. Its facilities in Wyoming, Utah, and other states accounted for approximately 20% of U.S. uranium capacity at the time, which prompted a review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) to approve an acquisition by the Russian state-backed company. Then-Secretary of State Clinton sat on that committee and had a prominent role in shaping the Obama administration’s foreign policy.

Uranium One shareholders poured millions of dollars into the Clinton Foundation prior to the CFIUS approval, but nevertheless the investigation petered out due to delays from the top and the internal debates on whether the statute of limitations had expired.

It was reported by Fox News in September 2020 that “aspects” of “Huber’s investigation into the Clinton Foundation have been assumed” by then-U.S. Attorney John Durham “as part of his review into the origins of the Russia probe.”

But Special Counsel John Durham’s 2023 special counsel report said that his appointment order by then-Attorney General Barr did not include the Uranium One saga within its scope, with the Durham report stating that “we have not interpreted the Order as directing us to consider matters addressed by the former United States Attorney for the District of Utah.”

The Uranium One piece of the Clinton Foundation investigation was allowed to whither on the vine, just like the other multifaceted foreign elements.

Abu Dhabi, an airport, and the Clinton Foundation

The internal investigative timeline also focused on the decision by the Obama administration to approve a pre-clearance facility at the Abu Dhabi airport in the UAE and any possible link between that decision and the UAE allegedly donating millions of dollars to the Clinton Foundation.

A retired special assistant in charge of the Immigration and Naturalization Service “files complaint with FBI related to Clinton Foundation role in helping UAE to obtain Pre-Clearance Facility at Abu Dhabi airport” on November 13, 2016, according to the timeline.

Then First Assistant U.S. Attorney Pat Harris “sends email to entire investigative team and U.S. Attorney [Cody] Hiland” in late January 2018 “indicating that in his opinion that we've deemed to be faulty, the statute of limitations for the entire investigation ends on 2/1/2018” and that “this opinion is based on fact that HRC left office at State Dept. on 2/1/2013 and as such, 5 years had passed and statute of limitations had expired,” according to the timeline.

“This opinion is faulty because the FBI had already learned that UAE provided a $5 million payment to CF on January 6, 2015 after obtaining a controversial pre-clearance facility in Abu Dhabi,” the investigative timeline argued. “Furthermore, this opinion failed to include whether Acts of Concealment such as deleting emails in 2015 and making additional statements and representations about those deletions would have extended the statute of limitations.”

Hiland sent a June 2018 email to Huber providing “an update on the CF investigation” and saying that “Jonathan” — presumably Jonathan Ross — “put much of this together for you.” The email said that “the Bureau has 17 302s [interviews] and 9 Intelligence Summaries” and said that “the majority of the existing 302s pertain directly to the Uranium One component of the investigation” while “the majority of the investigative tasks remaining pertain to the Abu Dhabi Pre-clearance Facility.”

“The matter that appears to justify the greatest investigative resources going forward is the Abu Dhabi pre-clearance facility,” the email said. 

“The original complaint lodged with the bureau was that Atihad Airlines used influence with DHS and CBP to obtain a pre-clearance facility in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates after paying for several speeches to former President Bill Clinton ($1.425 million) and to be honorary chairman of the GEMS Education Group ($5.6 million from 2011 to 2015). The timing of the payments in relation to the facility approval are very questionable and came to the FBI via complaint.”

The email pointed to a July 2013 hearing held on the Abu Dhabi pre-clearance facility by the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade. In that hearing, Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas, said “what seems to be clear is that a pre-clearance facility comes across as hurting United States air carriers.” 

The congressman added: “Unlike existing CBP pre-clearance facilities, no U.S. airline currently serves Abu Dhabi. The only carrier that does is the state-owned Etihad Airways.”

“CBP went to UAE, first asking for permission to put a pre-clearance facility in an airport where U.S. carriers actually go, Dubai. But UAE declined and instead suggested Abu Dhabi. There are no U.S. carriers serving Abu Dhabi because it didn't make economic sense. Dubai had the most traffic,” Poe said. 

“There is now no guarantee that even if U.S. carriers wanted to serve Abu Dhabi, UAE would let it. There is a solution to the problem. Move the pre-clearance facility to an airport in the Middle East that the U.S. carriers already service, like Dubai.”

The 2018 "to-do" list

The investigative timeline also said that, in August 2018, then-First Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Ross emailed an FBI supervisory special agent in Little Rock with a “to-do” list of “investigative actions concerning Abu Dhabi Pre Clearance Facility.”

Ross said that “the list contains the most obvious next steps to take as best I can tell,” including the need to “obtain all Department of State internal documentation of the conflict of interest review process to ascertain whether the appropriate authorizations were obtained for speeches made by former President Clinton, and if so, an assessment as to whether full disclosures were made.” 

The "to-do" list also included “an assessment of the relationship between the UAE Government and the Varkey GEMS Foundation [and] whether the Varkey GEMS Foundation works to advance the interests of the UAE Government.” What was able to be accomplished on the to-do list was not clear from the FBI's internal records.

“Interviews with the APCO Worldwide officials (the lobbying firm hired by Etihad to lobby the U.S. Government for approval of the pre-clearance facility) and any additional individuals identified by such interviews,” the list by Ross also included. “It should be noted that APCO Worldwide is the same consulting firm that was hired by Rosatom to lobby on behalf of the Russian Government for the acquisition of Uranium One, and also a donor to the Foundation.”

Ross added: “It’s time to make significant movement on this matter if it is to be properly and effectively run to ground, especially as it relates to […] working through the highly questionable circumstances surrounding the Abu Dhabi Preclearance Facility."

The Wall Street Journal reported in 2015 that “in December 2011, Bill Clinton gave a talk on climate change to an Abu Dhabi government environmental gathering, collecting $500,000.” The article was titled “Speaking Fees Meet Politics for Clintons."

The Daily Mail reported in 2016 that “Abu Dhabi offered to make its first ever donation to the Clinton Foundation while the oil-rich state was lobbying the State Department for a major airline deal, according to emails obtained by the Daily Mail – and foundation officials pressed a top Hillary Clinton aide for permission to take the money.”

The UAE embassy in Washington, D.C. did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Clinton/Chatwal relationship

The internal investigative timeline indicated that questions about the Clinton Foundation’s potential criminality were raised as early as April 2010, when there was a “consensually-monitored call between [Redacted] Sant Singh Chatwal” during which there was a “description of conversations with foreign donors (Amar Singh, Lakshmi Mittal, Deepak Chopra, Praful Patel, Subhash Chandra) about giving to HRC.”

The timeline noted that there was an investigation by the FBI’s New York Field Office and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York “regarding campaign finance violations” which “included use of CHS [confidential human sources], consensual recordings, and Title Ill intercepts.” The timeline’s notes pointed out that Chatwal was a “Democratic fundraiser. Long-time friend of the Clintons. [Clinton] Foundation donor and Board Member.”

Chatwal, an Indian-American businessman and wealthy hotelier, was a close Clinton ally. The Justice Department announced in April 2014 that Chatwal had “pleaded guilty to conspiring to violate the Federal Election Campaign Act by making more than $180,000 in federal campaign donations to three candidates through straw donors who were reimbursed, and to witness tampering.” He received only probation.

Judicial Watch in 2017 said that it was making public “previously unreleased email exchanges in which Hillary Clinton top aide Huma Abedin secured an invitation to a 2009 State Department luncheon for Sant S. Chatwal, a businessman under investigation in two countries and was also a Clinton Foundation trustee and contributor.”

The timeline said that, in mid-March 2016, the FBI’s New York Field Office interviewed a confidential human source (CHS) from the “Chatwal Case” who “confirms information from 2010.” The timeline added that an email was sent to FBI headquarters leaders “with summary of CHS interview and preliminary investigative plan.”

The FBI’s New York Field Office at the start of April 2016 then sent a list of questions to ask Clinton when she was to be interviewed by the bureau related to the email server inquiry — questions which the timeline says were never asked.

“Based on information derived from a recorded conversation, you [Hillary Clinton] and Mr. Chatwal had a conversation regarding settling debt from your first presidential campaign. You indicated to Mr. Chatwal that he could no longer donate to your campaign but he should instead donate to the Clinton Foundation,” the proposed questions said. “Were donations made to the Clinton Foundation used for personal use and/or to settle campaign debt?”

The proposed questions added: “Mr. Chatwal pled guilty to using straw donors to raise campaign funds for your first presidential election along with providing large amounts of cash to your husband. To your knowledge, did Mr. Chatwal also provide large cash payments to Indian officials in an effort to secure a nuclear deaf between India and the U.S.?”

Marty Coffee in late May 2019 told DOJ prosecutors that “Chatwal provided zero cooperation, but that Chatwal knows a lot” and that Coffee “tried to get him to cooperate,” according to the timeline.

“Reason we were stymied: two-fold: 1: Chatwal wouldn't give us a proffer; 2: FBI was told by HQ no subpoenas, don't go forward,” the timeline then said. “Field agents were frustrated. But HQ would not let it go forward. We were trying to explore the Foundation, and we were told ‘NO’ by FBI HQ.”

The timeline continued: “Our next best option was to circle back and speak with our cooperator. Chatwal's defense attorney is the former chief of the criminal division. Very smart. Cooperator was brought up on a separate IRS case, and [Redacted] attorney, former Acting U.S. Attorney, brought us the info/case on Chatwal, out of nowhere. Wasn't on our radar. Our choice was to immunize and give him a compulsion order, which we wouldn't do without a proffer. close, close personal friend of the Clintons. Attended Chelsea's wedding. Very wealthy hotelier in NYC. Took his yacht to the wedding.”

Chatwal did not respond to a request for comment sent to him through his hotel chain.

Clinton - Giustra Enterprise Partnership

Frank Giustra is a wealthy Canadian businessman who partnered with the Clinton Foundation on a host of initiatives. Ian Telfer is also a wealthy Canadian businessman and the former leader of Uranium One prior to it being acquired by Russian interests. Both Giustra and Telfer donated millions of dollars to the Clinton Foundation.

The internal timeline also said the FBI’s New York Field Office “submits case opening regarding Clinton Foundation and Clinton/Giustra Enterprise Partnership” and that the FBI’s Washington Field Office “submits request to Public Integrity at Main Justice to Open a Preliminary Investigation on the Bill, Hillary, and Chelsea Clinton Foundation.”

The investigative timeline noted that, among the April 2016 questions that the FBI’s New York Field Office was blocked from asking Hillary Clinton about in the summer of 2016 was a series of inquiries about the Clinton Foundation’s links to Frank Giustra, the Canadian businessman.

“Per your agreement with the Obama administration, prior to becoming Secretary of State, you agreed to disclose all donations made to the Clinton Foundation. Shortly after agreeing to this, The Clinton Giustra Sustainable Growth Initiative (CGSGI) was established,” a proposed inquiry stated. “The majority of the funds raised by CGSGI are eventually sent to the Clinton Foundation but no financial disclosures are made by CGSGI. What are the funding sources for CGSGI and how many foreign governments send donations to CGSGI?”

Politico reported in 2015 that Giustra “pledged over $100 million to the foundation.” The Washington Post wrote a story in 2015 titled, “Travels with Bill and Frank: A Look at the Clinton-Giustra Friendship.”

The Clinton Foundation says that “the Clinton Giustra Enterprise Partnership is an initiative of the Clinton Foundation established by President Bill Clinton and philanthropist Frank Giustra, with a mission of poverty alleviation at scale.”

Then-U.S. Attorney Cody Hiland also sent a June 2018 email to then-U.S. Attorney John Huber stating that among the “Remaining Intelligence Summaries” which needed to be scrutinized was an allegation about “Guistra and the Colombian Free Trade Agreement” and the “Reversal of HRC's previous stance on the agreement after Giustra donations to Foundation.”

Giustra did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent to him through the International Crisis Group which he co-chairs.

Nigerian billionaire later fined by DOJ was closely tied to Clinton Foundation

The internal investigative timeline stated that an FBI assistant special agent in charge allegedly relayed in mid-July 2018 that, in 2016, there had been an FBI headquarters Public Corruption Section “investigation of a Nigerian billionaire (Gilbert Chagoury) for crimes including election fraud re: straw donors.” 

The timeline also indicates that the FBI's Andrew McCabe “did not want” the results of that inquiry “to be shared with other FBI Field Offices.”

Ross also wrote a September 2018 memo stating that “it should also be noted that on about May 25, 2018, I was given access to what was represented to me to be ‘all known 302s’ concerning the Clinton Foundation” but that “those records contained no mention of a Los Angeles case concerning the Foundation nor Mr. Chagoury.” The FBI's "302s" are notes taken during interviews conducted by federal agents.

Ross sent an August 2018 email saying that “we are also requesting to consider the following actions or access to records on hand for the following” — including information about Chagoury and the Clinton family group.

“In light of the emails released by the State Department pursuant to FOIA litigation that revealed that a foreign individual who had pledged to donate a billion $ to the Clinton Global Initiative was able to have a Clinton Foundation employee (Doug Band) seek and arrange a meeting with the Secretary of State through Ms. Abedin we are requesting a briefing on the Los Angeles Field Office’s Investigation regarding Mr. Chagoury,” Ross wrote. “We also request verification of any donations and total sums received by Clinton Foundation entities by Mr. Chagoury or his affiliated organizations.”

Ross included a link to a New York Times piece which reported in 2016 that “a new batch of State Department emails … showed the close and sometimes overlapping interests between the Clinton Foundation and the State Department when Hillary Clinton served as secretary of state.”

“In April 2009, Douglas J. Band, who led the foundation’s Clinton Global Initiative, emailed Ms. Abedin and Cheryl D. Mills, another top adviser to Mrs. Clinton, for help with a donor,” the Times story said. “Mr. Band wrote that he needed to connect Gilbert Chagoury, a Lebanese-Nigerian billionaire who was one of the foundation’s top donors, with someone at the State Department to talk about his interests in Lebanon. ‘It’s jeff feltman,’ Ms. Abedin answered, referring to Jeffrey Feltman, who was the American ambassador to Lebanon at the time. ‘I’m sure he knows him. I’ll talk to jeff.’ Mr. Band asked her to call Mr. Chagoury immediately if possible. ‘This is very important,’ he wrote.”

Ross also pointed to press releases from the conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch, which had released a batch of Clinton aide Huma Abedin’s emails from her time at the State Department. The watchdog group issued a press release titled the “New Abedin Emails Reveal Hillary Clinton State Department Gave Special Access to Top Clinton Foundation Donors.”

Ross also wrote that “we would also like to formally debrief with Los Angeles FBI SAC [special agent in charge] Matthew S. Moon regarding his previous knowledge and work on the Chagoury investigation.”

The timeline said that — on January 7, 2020 — investigators including Ross conducted an “interview of Gilbert Chagoury at O'Melveny Law Offices in London with … FBI agents from L.A. and Little Rock.”. 

Ross sent a late December 2020 email to Hiland which said the Clinton Foundation timeline needed to include “what appeared to be a leak of the status of the investigation the day after my return from the London interview of G. Chagoury.”

The Los Angeles Times reported in 2016 that Chagoury had “contributed $1 million to $5 million to the Clinton Foundation, according to its list of donors.”

The DOJ announced in 2021 that Chagoury — a “Lebanese-Nigerian billionaire” — “agreed to resolve a federal investigation that they conspired to violate federal election laws by scheming to make illegal campaign contributions to U.S. presidential and congressional candidates” and that he “paid $1.8 million to resolve allegations that he, with the assistance of others, provided approximately $180,000 to individuals in the United States that was used to make contributions to four different federal political candidates in U.S. elections.”

Chagoury did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent through his personal website.

Pattern of investigations slow-walked or stalled: "No subpoenas"

In almost all of the instances where the FBI agents had prepared a list of questions to ask Ms. Clinton or the Clinton Foundation, agents were forbidden from asking them.

The FBI’s New York Field Office’s Diego Rodriguez in early April 2016 had allegedly sent FBI headquarters a “list of questions to ask HRC when FBI HQ interviews HRC.” Clinton was under investigation at the time for her mishandling of classified information during her use of an illicit private email server.

“While serving as Secretary of State, did you discuss Clinton Foundation business on the same email account/server you used to conduct State Department business? How many other Clinton Foundation employees had email accounts on this server?” the proposed questions included.

The proposed questions also included the following: “You had an agreement with the Obama Administration which placed restrictions on receiving donations to the Clinton Foundation from foreign countries, yet the Foundation continued to accept contributions without disclosures from countries where you also lobbied for actions. On how many occasions did the Foundation disregard the official agreement to accept contributions from countries you had State Department business in?”

The timeline noted that in the Chatwal episode, FBI was also "told by HQ no subpoenas, don't go forward.”  

“Field agents were frustrated," the timeline says, "But HQ would not let it go forward. We were trying to explore the Foundation, and we were told ‘NO’ by FBI HQ.” 

Other possible foreign influence schemes also drew FBI attention

Then-U.S. Attorney Cody Hiland had sent the aforementioned June 2018 email to Huber on “Remaining Intelligence Summaries” which included a number of possible foreign influence strands upon which investigators might pull. 

The email stated that “S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace — significant Foundation donor who attempted to gain access to the Secretary of State regarding his viewpoints concerning Middle East issues.” The S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace says that it “works to improve the lives of Israelis and Palestinians, narrow the conflict, advance rights, and build popular support for peacebuilding.”

Forbes reported in 2016 that Abraham, the founder of the Slim-Fast diet supplement, had donated $3 million to Hillary Clinton’s Super PAC, and had also given millions to “the Clinton Foundation, ranking in its $5-$10 million donor range.” The outlet said “Clinton has returned the favor by supporting the Abraham's Center for Middle East Peace” and refers to him as her "dear friend Danny."

The group did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Hiland’s email also listed “Magna International" and a "reversal of Russian-owned bank [Redacted]’s attempted acquisition of Opal (from GM)."

Magna is a Canadian auto parts maker. Reuters reported in 2007 that Magna “secured a $1.54 billion investment” from Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska. CBC reported in 2008 that Deripaska was “forced to dump his 20 percent stake” in the Canadian company.

The Globe and Mail reported in 2016 that “the Clinton Foundation counts some of Canada's best-known corporations” — including “auto parts giant Magna International Inc.” — “among its large donors.”

Magna appeared to have been investigated in 2011 related to a U.S. antitrust probe, with the company saying it was cooperating with DOJ, but no charges emerged from that inquiry nor from the one linked to the Clinton Foundation.

Benefit to Boeing eyed along with Saudi donations

The email from Hiland also said that “Boeing — obtaining substantial contracts after donations to the Foundation.” The Free Press reported in 2015 that “Hillary Clinton facilitated a $29 billion arms deal to Saudi Arabia in 2010, benefiting the Saudi regime and defense contractor Boeing, both of which made large contributions to the Clinton Foundation.”

The Seattle Times reported in 2016 that “new emails provide a fuller look into the former Secretary of State’s advocacy for Boeing” and that “the company helped her reach a major foreign-policy goal, gave over $1 million to the Clinton Foundation, and sponsored speeches that paid former President Clinton six-figure sums.”

No charges emerged related to the Clinton Foundation

The Haitian gold mine

The Hiland email also pointed to controversies tied to Haiti. The email stated that “VCS Mining in Haiti — obtaining contracts and licenses to mine in Haiti after donations to Foundation.” The Washington Post wrote in 2015 about how the “Role of Hillary Clinton’s brother in Haiti gold mine raises eyebrows.”

The email also pointed to “Digicel Haiti — obtaining increased market share pursuant to favorable government treatment after donations to Foundation after 2010 earthquake.”

Politico wrote a 2015 article titled, “The King and Queen of Haiti. There’s no country that more clearly illustrates the confusing nexus of Hillary Clinton’s State Department and Bill Clinton’s foundation than Haiti—America’s poorest neighbor.”

No charges emerged directly related to the Haiti saga and the Clinton Foundation.

Taken altogether, the newly-released documents provide insights into how Clinton-linked inquiries were buried at the same time that the FBI and DOJ launched a baseless Russia collusion inquiry that would consume Donald Trump’s first term. It remains to be seen whether further revelations will provide opportunities to revive the Clinton Foundation investigations, or if the federal efforts have stalled out for good.