Judicial Watch announced Tuesday it is suing the Justice and State departments to force release of documents on the controversial Obama-era Uranium One deal, which gave Russia control over roughly 20 percent of all U.S. supplies of a resource essential to the nation’s defense.
“It is simply remarkable that Judicial Watch had to sue the State and Justice departments in federal court for basic information about the shady Uranium One deal,” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said in a statement announcing the suit, which was filed March 29.
Judicial Watch is a nonprofit government watchdog that has filed hundreds of lawsuits under the federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), which guarantees public access to all government documents not covered under a handful of specific exemptions.
The deal with the Russian government-owned company occurred in 2010 during President Barack Obama’s administration and under former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Multiple investors in Uranium One were Clinton Foundation donors with ties to her husband, former President Bill Clinton.
Judicial Watch filed its FOIA lawsuit against the two departments in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia seeking “all records of communications relating to Uranium One” after the departments failed to respond to two FOIA requests.
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“It seems Judicial Watch has done more to investigate the Clinton-Russia connections than the Justice Department, even as DOJ resources are spent on supporting [special counsel Robert] Mueller’s massive investigation into the fanciful Clinton Dossier-inspired Trump-Russia conspiracy theory,” Fitton continued. “We hope the Uranium One cover-up ends thanks to these lawsuits.”
The two departments ignored Judicial Watch’s original FOIA requests for the documents from Dec. 22, 2017.
Judicial Watch noted that the Uranium One deal was approved by the nine-member Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), including Clinton. The watchdog found that “Uranium One interests” contributed at least $140 million to the Clinton Foundation.
Related: The Uranium One Deal Is a Clear and Present Danger to America
“In January 2008, Judicial Watch revealed that Bill Clinton had helped Vancouver mining mogul Frank Giustra secure tens of millions of dollars’ worth of uranium. Guistra built a company that became part of Uranium One,” Judicial Watch noted. “The Clinton Foundation later received a $31.3 million donation, as well as a future pledge of $100 million.”
The watchdog also obtained and released “more than 200 Clinton conflict-of-interest documents” regarding the Uranium One controversy.
PoliZette writer Kathryn Blackhurst can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter.
(photo credit, homepage image: Hillary Clinton, CC BY 2.0, Veni; photo credit, article image: Hillary Clinton Attends a Campaign Rally…, CC BY-ND 2.0, by Nathaniel F)
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