exclusive: Jack Smith, the top prosecutor on the special counsel team, discouraged the FBI from pursuing an investigation into the Clinton Foundation in 2016. Despite multiple suspicious activity reports (SARs) related to hundreds of thousands of dollars in foreign transactions, the evidence is negligible, Fox News Digital has learned.
Ray Halser, former chief of the Justice Department's Public Integrity Division (PIN), who is part of Smith's team currently prosecuting former President Trump, said in a report by Special Counsel John Durham that in 2016, has been identified as a Clinton Foundation official who “refused prosecution.”
Former President Donald Trump and Special Counsel Jack Smith. Smith is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to consider Trump's immunity claims in the election interference criminal case against him. (Getty Images)
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In January 2016, “three different FBI field offices, the New York field office, the Washington field office, and the Little Rock field office, began investigations into possible criminal activity involving the Clinton Foundation,” according to a report in the Durham newspaper.
The report notes that the case was opened with reference to intelligence products and that certain commercial “industries likely involved federal public servants in the flow of benefits, i.e., large monetary donations to nonprofit organizations.” It is clear that this corroborates the financial report that “may have been carried out.'' Direct and indirect control over federal civil servants in exchange for favorable government action or influence. ”
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The investigation in Washington began as a “preliminary investigation.” Before attempting to convert the case, case investigators wanted to determine whether additional information could be developed to support the claims of the recently published book, Clinton Cash, by Peter Schweizer. A thorough investigation will be conducted,” the report said.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former President Bill Clinton (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
But the New York State and Little Rock investigations include predictions “based on reports from intelligence sources who have identified foreign governments that have made or offered to donate to the foundation in exchange for favors or favors from Mr. Clinton.” It was included.
The Durham report found that because three different FBI field offices had begun investigations related to the Clinton Foundation, “coordination meetings should be conducted between the field offices, FBI headquarters, and the appropriate federal prosecutor's office.” “recognized'' and that there were “components.'' From the main Ministry of Justice.
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“It is likely that these meetings were considered particularly important given that the investigation took place during an election year in which Ms. Clinton was declared the presidential candidate.” It includes.
One of the meetings detailed in the report took place on February 1, 2016. In addition to several FBI officials, the meeting included Assistant Attorney General Leslie Caldwell of the Criminal Division and Mr. Halser, then head of the Public Integrity Division.
Durham interviewed Halser as part of the investigation. Mr. Halser told Durham that the FBI's briefings about the Clinton Foundation were “poorly written, relied on allegations contained in the book, and were insufficiently predictive of at least one investigation.” .
“Mr. Halser downplayed the information provided by the New York field office CHS.” [confidential human source] and recalled that the amounts involved in the financial reporting were “minimal'','' the report said.
However, Mr Durham's team reviewed the financial reports to “better understand the allegations”.
John Durham will testify before the House Judiciary Committee on June 20, 2023. (Screenshot/House Judiciary Committee)
The Durham report states in a footnote: “The report itself is not evidence of wrongdoing, but rather describes multiple transfers of funds, some of which involved international bank accounts suspected of facilitating bribery and gratuity violations.'' “I was doing it,” he said. “The related transactions took place between 2012 and 2014 and totaled hundreds of thousands of dollars.”
Although the Durham report does not explicitly refer to a “suspicious activity report,” the activities described are those that would normally be the subject of such a report.
However, a person familiar with the matter told Fox News Digital that multiple SARs were filed at the time related to the Clinton Foundation. In 2012, Hillary Clinton served as Secretary of State.
Banks are required to submit SARs, but it is up to the Department of Justice to determine whether there is criminality.
Because of Clinton's name, the Clinton Foundation or Clinton-related accounts may have had a “PEP” designation within the financial institution. PEP stands for “politically exposed person,” meaning that the individual may be susceptible to bribery and corruption through their prominent position or relationships.
Hunter Biden's federal criminal investigation was predicated, in part, on SARs that utilized funds from “China and other foreign countries.” These SARs were led by House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.), Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), and Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-Ky.). and was considered as part of the House impeachment inquiry into President Biden. -Mo.
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Meanwhile, the Durham report says that during a February 2016 meeting, Mr. Halser “refused to prosecute” the Clinton Foundation on behalf of the Justice Department's Public Integrity Division.
But Mr. Halser told Mr. Durham during the interview that he had “made it clear” that “his decisions are not binding on the various U.S. prosecutors' offices or the field divisions of the FBI.”
Mr. Durham learned from an interview with another person who attended the meeting that the Justice Department's response to the Clinton Foundation press conference was “hostile.”
“There are significant signs that the Obama Justice Department has slowed and thwarted the investigation into the Clinton Foundation, including discouraging the FBI from going after it,” said Andy McCarthy, a former federal prosecutor and Fox News contributor.
former president donald trump (AP)
Regarding Halcer, McCarthy told Fox News Digital that the Biden Justice Department's decision to appoint a special counsel was entirely political and that the decision was made to put distance between the attorney general and the president. It was clear from the beginning that it had happened.” “This is to accuse Mr. Trump of conducting a full investigation by Mr. Smith with the election schedule in mind.”
“No one should be surprised that people on Mr. Smith's staff find themselves in situations where being politically involved is politically contradictory,” McCarthy said.
President Trump has pled not guilty to all charges stemming from the Smith investigation related to both January 6 and 2020 election interference, as well as cases related to classified records.
Special Counsel Jack Smith's office declined to comment for this story.
Regarding the Clinton Foundation investigation, at another meeting in February 2016, then-FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe said, “I initially directed the field office to close the case, but after receiving opposition, I decided not to close the case.'' We have agreed to reconsider the punishment.”
former FBI Director James Comey (Cherise May/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
In an interview with Durham's team, current FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate said McCabe said the Justice Department told him “there's nothing here” and “why are we doing this?” I'm reminiscing about that.
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At the end of the meeting, it was announced that Mr McCabe's “approval would be required” “for any public investigative action to be taken”.
Meanwhile, by May 2016, then-FBI Director James Comey directed the FBI's New York field office to “cease” the investigation into the Clinton Foundation, citing “undisclosed counterintelligence concerns.”
Mr. Durham was “unable to determine what the counterintelligence issue Mr. Comey was raising.”
Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe (Jahi Chikwendu/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
By August 2016, a meeting was held and directed that the Washington and Little Rock investigations be “closed and integrated into the New York investigation.” However, during the meeting, US prosecutors “refused to issue subpoenas.”
Durham included this information in his report to provide a “contrast” in how the FBI handled the Clinton matter compared to the Trump-Russia investigation, known internally as “Crossfire Hurricane.”
“First of all, the NYFO and WFO investigations appear to have been initiated as preliminary investigations due to their political sensitivities and reliance on unvetted hearsay information (Clinton Cash Book).” [confidential human source reporting]”In contrast, the Crossfire Hurricane investigation immediately began as a full-scale investigation, even though it was also based on hearsay information,” the report said.
Special Prosecutor John Durham (Ron Sachs/Integrated News Photo/Getty Images)
Durham said the Justice Department seemed to have “legitimate concerns” about the investigation into the Clinton Foundation in the run-up to the presidential election, but added that “the Justice Department and the FBI have expressed similar concerns regarding the Crossfire Hurricane investigation.” It doesn't look like he did,” he added.
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Special Counsel Robert Mueller's nearly two-year investigation yielded no evidence of any criminal conspiracy or coordination between the Trump campaign and Russian officials during the 2016 presidential election.
Durham cited “clear warning signs” that the FBI was a “target” of a Hillary Clinton-led effort to “manipulate or influence the law enforcement process for political purposes” against President Trump ahead of the presidential election. Based on this, it was determined that the company had not taken any action. 2016 presidential election.
Mr. Halser was the top prosecutor in the government corruption case against New Jersey Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez in 2015, which was dismissed after a hung jury could not reach a verdict. He was also involved in the Justice Department's prosecution of former Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro, who was found guilty of contempt of Congress for failing to comply with a subpoena from the committee on January 6th.
