The FBI was allegedly prevented from looking into the Clinton Foundation in 2016 by Ray Hulser, a senior prosecutor on Special Counsel Jack Smith’s team, even though there were Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) pertaining to substantial international transactions. Hulser, who oversaw the Public Integrity Section (PIN) of the DOJ as its chief at the time, is presently assisting in the prosecution of former President Donald Trump.
The Special Counsel John Durham report states that the FBI began looking into the Clinton Foundation in January 2016 as a result of financial and intelligence inputs indicating possible criminal conduct. Allegations of a system involving financial contributions to the Foundation in exchange for advantageous government action or influence served as the basis for the investigations.
Prior to becoming a comprehensive investigation, the Washington inquiry aimed to verify claims made in Peter Schweizer’s book “Clinton Cash”. Still, the investigations in New York and Little Rock were based on allegations that foreign governments had contributed to the Foundation in exchange for special treatment from Clinton.
Hulser reviewed the investigations in February 2016 in a meeting with other FBI officers and DOJ personnel. According to reports, Hulser minimized the data supplied by the New York Field Office and called the financial reporting “de minimis.” Hulser declined to prosecute the Clinton Foundation on behalf of the DOJ’s Public Integrity Section, despite the financial documentation detailing several transfers of cash totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars.
In comparing the Trump-Russia probe with the Clinton Foundation probe, the Durham report points out that, in spite of similar rumor predictions, a comprehensive investigation was launched right away in the latter case.
In his remarks on the matter, former federal prosecutor Andy McCarthy implied that the Obama Justice Department had dissuaded both the FBI and the Clinton Foundation from conducting an inquiry.
In the end, it was decided to close the Clinton Foundation investigations and combine them into the New York probe; U.S. attorneys’ offices declined to serve subpoenas.
Concerns concerning the political ramifications and disparities in methodology between investigations involving prominent political leaders have been brought up by the way these investigations have been handled.