F.B.I. agents have renewed the inquiry about the donations of the Clinton Foundation amid tensions between Justice Department prosecutors and FBI agents about the politically charged case, according to people familiar with the matter, people familiar with the investigation said on Friday, The New York Times informs.
They said that agents have interviewed people connected to the foundation about whether any donations were made in exchange for political favors while Hillary Clinton was secretary of state from 2009 to 2013. Career prosecutors had shut down the investigation in 2016 for lack of evidence.
During the presidential campaign, Trump branded his rival “Crooked Hillary” and promised to send her to jail if he won. He briefly struck a more magnanimous tone after the election and said he had no interest in pushing for a prosecution.
But as his legal problems have mounted, Trump has returned to his attacks on his favorite target. With four former aides facing federal charges and the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, investigating him and his campaign, Trump has openly called for Clinton to be investigated and one of her top aides to be imprisoned.
It is unclear exactly when the F.B.I. renewed its interest in the Clinton Foundation, or whether agents were instructed by anyone in Washington to start investigating again. But the F.B.I.’s decision to take additional investigative steps is sure to outrage Democrats who will see the inquiry as an attempt by Attorney General Jeff Sessions to placate the president.
As Mueller’s investigation has intensified, the president and his conservative allies have mounted blistering counterattacks trying to discredit the F.B.I. and federal prosecutors. Trump has described the investigation as a witch hunt and accused F.B.I. leadership under the bureau’s former director, James B. Comey, of being biased toward Clinton.
Some congressional Republicans have sought to cast doubt on an explosive dossier of unsubstantiated claims about Trump. On Friday, two influential Republican senators asked the Justice Department to investigate whether the author of the dossier, Christopher Steele, a respected former British spy, lied to the federal authorities.
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