Bill Clinton sought the State Department’s permission to meet with a top Russian nuclear official as the Obama administration decided whether or not to approve the Uranium One deal.Â
The Hill reports:
As he prepared to collect a $500,000 payday in Moscow in 2010, Bill Clinton sought clearance from the State Department to meet with a key board director of the Russian nuclear energy firm Rosatom — which at the time needed the Obama administration’s approval for a controversial uranium deal, government records show.
Arkadi Dvorkovich, a top aide to then-Russian President Dmitri Medvedev and one of the highest-ranking government officials to serve on Rosatom’s board of supervisors, was listed on a May 14, 2010 email as one of 15 Russians the former president wanted to meet during a late June 2010 trip, the documents show.
“In the context of a possible trip to Russia at the end of June, WJC is being asked to see the business/government folks below. Would State have concerns about WJC seeing any of these folks,” Clinton Foundation foreign policy adviser Amitabh Desai wrote the State Department on May 14, 2010, using the former president’s initials and forwarding the list of names to Mrs. Clinton’s team.
When the request went unanswered by State, a Clinton aide followed up.
“Dear Jake, we urgently need feedback on this. Thanks, Ami.” an aide to Bill Clinton emailed in June.
According to The Hill‘s John Solomon, it appears Clinton did not meet with the Russian official in the end.
“Requests of this type were run by the State Department as a matter of course. This was yet another one of those instances. Ultimately, President Clinton did not meet with these people,” Angel Urena, a spokesperson for Clinton, told The Hill.
However, a very important question is left unanswered — why on earth would the former President of the United States want to meet a Russian nuclear official?
In another statement to The Hill, Hillary Clinton spokesperson Nick Merrill dismisses the Uranium One scandal as fake news. “At every turn this storyline has been debunked on the merits. Its roots are with a project shepherded by Steve Bannon, which should tell you all you need to know,” Merrill told The Hill.
“This latest iteration is simply more of the right doing Trump’s bidding for him to distract from his own Russia problems, which are real and a grave threat to our national security.
Circa reporter Sara Carter reveals APCO Worldwide Inc., a consulting firm with ties to the Clinton family, lobbied on behalf of Russian nuclear giant TENEX in relation to the Uranium One deal.
Circa reports:
Roughly $3 million in payments from 2010 to 2011 were made to APCO Worldwide Inc., which is described on their website as the second largest lobbying firm in the United States. The firm also provided in kind pro-bono services to Bill Clinton’s foundation, the Clinton Global Initiative, services they begin 2007, according to APCO officials who spoke with Circa and press releases from the company. It was during the same time that then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was part of the Obama administration board that would eventually approve the sale of the U.S. uranium to Russia.
[…]Long-time Clinton supporter and APCO CEO, Margery Kraus signed the continuing contract on April, 12, 2010, with TENEX, as the Russian company’s top executive Russian businessman Vadim Milkerin was being investigated by the FBI for kickbacks and bribery involving American companies, according to the APCO TENEX contract and court documents obtained by Circa. TENEX is a subsidiary of the the Russian state owned nuclear giant Rosatom, according to financial filings of the company.
Click here to read more of Carter’s report.
In a head-scratching statement, APCO Worldwide Inc. claims they had nothing to do with the Clinton-Uranium One scandal.
In a statement to Circa, APCO Worldwide Inc. said Thursday, “APCO was not involved on any aspect of Uranium One, or the CFIUS process relating to it. APCO Worldwide undertook activities on behalf of Tenex in 2010 and 2011 relating to civil nuclear cooperation, which APCO properly disclosed in detail at the time in public filings. Separately, since 2007-2008, APCO provided services in kind to the Clinton Global Initiative. APCO’s work for Tenex and APCO’s work for the Clinton Global Initiative were separate and unconnected, publicly documented from the outset, and fully consistent with all regulations and US law.”
APCO Worldwide Inc says they have not been interviewed by the FBI in relation to the Clinton-Uranium One investigation.
