Kash Patel declassifies documents suggesting obstruction in FBI's Clinton Foundation probe: 'Shut it down'
WASHINGTON, DC: FBI Director Kash Patel has obtained a declassified 2017 memo and related emails that he says document political obstruction within the Obama-era Justice Department (DOJ) and FBI during the 2016 election, as agents in New York City, Little Rock, and Washington, DC pursued a public integrity probe into the Clinton Foundation.
The timeline, written by a DOJ lawyer detailed to the FBI under then-Director James Comey, recounts repeated internal roadblocks that curtailed subpoenas, new sources, and “overt investigative steps.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi has authorized a strike force and a grand jury to examine whether years of law-enforcement and intelligence actions amounted to a criminal conspiracy to shield Democrats such as Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden while targeting Donald Trump and his allies, according to officials.
Memo alleges explicit orders to halt the Clinton Foundation probe
The declassified timeline describes how investigators struggled to advance a fully predicated criminal case after early 2016. As early as February 1, 2016, the Justice Department “indicated they would not be supportive of an FBI investigation.”
In mid-February, then-Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe directed that “no overt investigative steps” could occur without his personal approval — a restriction agents said was reiterated repeatedly, Just the News reported.
One pivotal entry in the memo alleges that, likely in March 2016, then-Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates told a federal prosecutor to stop: “Shut it down!”
The timeline adds that prosecutors in the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York later said they “would not support the investigation” and that “no explanation was given.” After the election, DOJ officials raised “concerns regarding the statute of limitations,” with one unnamed official saying they “wanted to close this chapter and move forward.”
Per the memo, the FBI opened a Preliminary Investigation in New York on January 22, 2016; a Full Field Investigation in Little Rock on January 27, 2016; and a Preliminary Investigation in Washington on January 29, 2016.
The New York and Little Rock lines included reporting that “identified foreign governments that had made, or offered to make, contributions to the Foundation in exchange for favorable or preferential treatment from Clinton.”
The Washington case was opened “to determine if [agents] could develop additional information to corroborate the allegations in a recently published book, 'Clinton Cash' by Peter Schweizer.”
Andrew McCabe’s role and the inspector general’s findings
The Justice Department inspector general previously wrote that McCabe “had an active role in the supervision of the Midyear [Clinton emails] investigation, and oversight of the Clinton Foundation investigation, until he recused himself from these investigations on November 1, 2016” and later “found that McCabe did not fully comply with this recusal in a few instances related to the Clinton Foundation investigation.”
The IG also concluded Comey’s July 2016 public exoneration of Hillary Clinton was “extraordinary and insubordinate”: “We concluded that Comey’s unilateral announcement was inconsistent with Department policy and violated long-standing Department practice and protocol by, among other things, criticizing Clinton’s uncharged conduct.”
Special Counsel John Durham noted the stark difference between how the government handled Trump-related allegations and the Clinton Foundation matter: “The immediate opening of Crossfire Hurricane as a full investigation contrasts with the care taken in connection with the investigation of the Clinton Foundation and other matters.”
'Stand down' direction and post-election delays
According to the timeline, by October 2016 the Little Rock and Washington cases were “directed to close,” while the New York office was told no overt action could occur without McCabe’s sign-off.
In an October 25, 2016 call, participants were “reminded that EDNY had previously stated [they were] not interested in pursuing [the] CF matter, but then changed to no legal process… until after the election.” Even in August 2017, field personnel reported they would “wait until DOJ gave them concurrence to proceed” because “DOJ had told them to stand down last year.”
Files suggest DOJ halted Clinton probe
Investigative journalist John Solomon summarized the documents’ significance, highlighting what the memo describes as a directive attributed to Yates: “Then, perhaps the most extraordinary statement in the document… the Deputy Attorney General for Barack Obama, Sally Yates, explicitly told the FBI: ‘Shut it down,’ meaning the corruption probes of Hillary Clinton.”
Officials said DOJ has secured potential cooperation from current and former prosecutors and agents willing to assist any obstruction inquiry. Patel’s team has also gathered corroborating internal emails and “other emails that he’s going to be turning over to Congress that I think will further this narrative,” according to Solomon.
The New York Times reported that “in August 2021, the FBI received what is known as a declination memo from prosecutors and as a result considered the matter closed,” effectively ending federal review of the Clinton Foundation during the Biden administration.
