BUTLER COUNTY, IOWA – U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) is making public internal emails and a Federal Bureau of Investigation Electronic Communication (FBI EC) exposing Department of Justice (DOJ) officials’ refusal to open a criminal investigation into potential campaign finance violations committed by Hillary Clinton and the Democratic National Committee (DNC), despite FBI agents’ demonstration of a fact-pattern showing Clinton and the DNC intentionally concealed payments to inappropriately target then-candidate Donald Trump.
The Federal Election Commission in 2022 fined Clinton and the DNC for disguising campaign expenditures to pay Fusion GPS, a political opposition research firm, to craft the debunked Steele Dossier, which falsely alleged that Trump was colluding with Russia.
The decision to decline the investigation was made by Richard Pilger, of the DOJ’s Public Integrity Section (DOJ-PIN), and J.P. Cooney, who at the time worked in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia (USADC). Pilger was later pivotal in reviewing and approving the opening of Jack Smith’s Arctic Frost investigation. Cooney served as Smith’s Deputy Special Counsel for that investigation.
The FBI EC was provided to Grassley by the DOJ and FBI, pursuant to his oversight request.
“Courageous whistleblowers came to my office years ago to sound the alarm that the Justice Department inappropriately interfered in efforts to investigate potential criminal activity committed by Hillary Clinton and her campaign,” Grassley said. “These records show the same partisans who rushed to cover for Clinton rabidly pursued Arctic Frost, which was a runaway train aimed directly at President Trump and the Republican political apparatus. I appreciate Attorney General Bondi and FBI Director Patel’s efforts to turn over the information I requested, and I’ll continue investigating this matter.”
The FBI EC and accompanying email communications can be found HERE. Grassley sent a follow up letter to DOJ and FBI, HERE.
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