Clinton Collected Russian Cash Before Approving Russian Uranium Deal
April 23, 2015 By Sean Davis
Let them eat yellow cake.
A blockbuster report in the New York Times today details how Hillary Clinton’s non-profit organization raked in millions from the Russian nuclear industry while Hillary was negotiating a deal to allow the Russians to acquire Uranium One, one of the world’s largest uranium mining companies:
As the Russians gradually assumed control of Uranium One in three separate transactions from 2009 to 2013, Canadian records show, a flow of cash made its way to the Clinton Foundation. Uranium One’s chairman used his family foundation to make four donations totaling $2.35 million. Those contributions were not publicly disclosed by the Clintons, despite an agreement Mrs. Clinton had struck with the Obama White House to publicly identify all donors. Other people with ties to the company made donations as well.
And shortly after the Russians announced their intention to acquire a majority stake in Uranium One, Mr. Clinton received $500,000 for a Moscow speech from a Russian investment bank with links to the Kremlin that was promoting Uranium One stock.
At the time, both Rosatom and the United States government made promises intended to ease concerns about ceding control of the company’s assets to the Russians. Those promises have been repeatedly broken, records show.
In a pattern that is becoming all too familiar, Hillary Clinton never disclosed these contributions to the White House or State Department officials.
Because Uranium One owns uranium mills and tens of thousands of acres throughout several U.S. states, the Russian acquisition had to be approved by U.S. government officials. Before they could approve the deal, those U.S. officials–who reported to Hillary Clinton–had to certify that the deal would not jeopardize American national security by giving Russia an effective global monopoly on uranium supplies:
Still, the ultimate authority to approve or reject the Russian acquisition rested with the cabinet officials on the foreign investment committee, including Mrs. Clinton — whose husband was collecting millions of dollars in donations from people associated with Uranium One.
It appears, though, that millions in undisclosed payments to Hillary’s foundation weren’t enough for the 2016 Democratic presidential hopeful. As is often the case with the Clinton, a six-figure speech by Bill Clinton was also scheduled right after the Russians agreed to buy Uranium One:
Amid this influx of Uranium One-connected money, Mr. Clinton was invited to speak in Moscow in June 2010, the same month Rosatom struck its deal for a majority stake in Uranium One.
The $500,000 fee — among Mr. Clinton’s highest — was paid by Renaissance Capital, a Russian investment bank with ties to the Kremlin that has invited world leaders, including Tony Blair, the former British prime minister, to speak at its annual investor conference.
The blockbuster NYT report doesn’t just impact Hillary’s presidential hopes; it could also affect the ongoing nuclear talks between the U.S. and Iran since Russia is Iran’s primary supplier of enriched uranium. Iran’s sole operating nuclear power facility in Bushehr gets the bulk of its nuclear fuel from Russia. Rosatom, the Russian uranium supplier, also struck a deal with Iran late last year to build eight more nuclear reactors, all of which would be fueled exclusively from Rosatom enriched uranium supplies–supplies which may well have been obtained through Rosatom’s acquisition of Uranium One.
The former secretary of state has remained relatively silent on the proposed Iranian nuclear deal thus far, apparently for good reason. Her opposition could sink Rosatom’s 2014 deal to provide enriched uranium to eight Iranian nuclear reactors for their entire life cycles, potentially enraging the wealthy investors who funneled millions to her family’s foundation. And if she clearly endorses the deal and Iran ends up using the enriched uranium to make a nuclear weapon, opponents could blame Hillary for approving the deal that enabled Russia to provide all that uranium to the Iranians.
When asked whether the millions in payments funneled to Clinton, Inc. may have influenced Hillary’s decision to approve the Rosatom acquisition, a spokesman for Clinton’s campaign told the New York Times that no one “has ever produced a shred of evidence supporting the theory that Hillary Clinton ever took action as secretary of state to support the interests of donors to the Clinton Foundation.” The spokesman did not note that any such evidence, which is currently under subpoena, was likely intentionally hidden and then destroyed at Hillary’s direction once her secret e-mail scheme came to light.
Sean Davis is the co-founder of The Federalist.
