Victor Davis Hanson ping
From the transcript: C-Span...
(sorry about the CAPS. That is how they do their transcripts)
CHAIRMAN GRASSLEY:
I WANT TO ASK YOU A QUESTION THAT LOOKS LIKE HISTORY, BUT IT WAS IN THE NEWS RECENTLY.
YESTERDAY, I BELIEVE, ACCORDING TO GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTS AND RECENT NEWS REPORTS, THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT HAS AN ONGOING CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION FOR BRIBERY, EXTORTION, AND MONEY LAUNDERING INTO OFFICIALS FOR THE RUSSIAN COMPANY MAKING THE PURCHASE OF URANIUM ONE.
THAT PURCHASE WAS APPROVED DURING THE PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATION AND RESULTED IN THE RUSSIANS OWNING 20% OF AMERICA’S URANIUM MINING CAPACITY.
WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO FIND OUT HOW THE RUSSIAN TAKEOVER OF THE AMERICAN URANIUM WAS ALLOWED TO OCCUR, DESPITE CRIMINAL CONDUCT BY THE RUSSIAN COMPANY THAT THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION APPROVED TO MAKE THE PURCHASE?
A.G. SESSIONS:
MR. CHAIRMAN, WE WILL HEAR YOUR CONCERNS. THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE WILL TAKE SUCH ACTIONS AS IS APPROPRIATE, I KNOW, AND I WOULD OFFER THAT SOME PEOPLE HAVE GONE TO JAIL IN THAT TRANSACTION ALREADY, BUT THE ARTICLE TALKS ABOUT OTHER ISSUES.
SO WITHOUT CONFIRMING OR DENYING THE EXISTENCE OF ANY PARTICULAR INVESTIGATION, I WOULD SAY THAT I HEAR YOUR CONCERNS AND THEY WILL BE REVIEWED.
CHAIRMAN GRASSLEY:
I THINK I KNOW WHY YOU ARE PROBABLY RELUCTANT TO GO INTO SOME DETAIL ON THAT, BUT I WOULD LIKE TO REMIND YOU THAT DEPUTY ATTORNEY ROSENSTEIN DIRECTLY SUPERVISED A CRIMINAL CASE WHEN HE WAS U.S. ATTORNEY IN MARYLAND.
I DO NOT THINK IT WOULD BE PROPER FOR HIM TO SUPERVISE A REVIEW OF HIS OWN CONDUCT, DO YOU?
A.G. SESSIONS:
IT WOULD BE HIS DECISION. HE IS A MAN OF INTEGRITY AND ABILITY. IF HE FEELS HE HAS AN INABILITY TO PROCEED WITH ANY INVESTIGATION, IT WOULD BE HIS RESPONSIBILITY TO MAKE THAT DETERMINATION, AND SHOULD CONSULT, AS I TOLD YOU I WOULD AND AS I HAVE DONE, WITH THE SENIOR ETHICS PEOPLE AT THE DEPARTMENT.
CHAIRMAN GRASSLEY:
REPORTS SUGGEST THAT THE CLINTON FOUNDATION RECEIVED MILLIONS OF DOLLARS FROM INTERESTED PARTIES IN THE TRANSACTION. BILL CLINTON RECEIVED $500,000 FOR A SPEECH IN MOSCOW, JUNE 2010, FROM THE RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT ALIGNED BANK, THE SAME MONTH THAT RUSSIA BEGAN THE URANIUM ACQUISITION PROCESS.
THIS FACT PATTERN RAISES SERIOUS CONCERNS ABOUT IMPROPER POLITICAL INFLUENCE ON THE PROCESS BY THE PREVIOUS — BY THE CLINTONS DURING THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION.
HAS THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT FULLY INVESTIGATED WHETHER THE RUSSIANS COMPROMISED THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION’S DECISIONS TO SMOOTH THE WAY FOR TRANSACTIONS, AND IF NOT, WHY NOT?
A.G. SESSIONS:
WE ARE WORKING HARD TO MAINTAIN DISCIPLINE IN THE DEPARTMENT.
IT WOULD NOT BE APPROPRIATE FOR ME TO COMMENT ON ANY ONGOING INVESTIGATION.
https://www.c-span.org/video/?434413-1/attorney-general-says-interviewed-special-counsel
bmp
That likelihood becomes clearer as the Trump investigators—in Congress, in the Justice Department, and the legions in the media—begin to grow strangely silent about the entire collusion charge, as other scandals mount and crowd out the old empty story. This news boomerang poses the obvious question—was the zeal of the original accusers of felony behavior with the Russian collusion merely an attempt at deflection? Was it designed to protect themselves from being accused of serious crimes?
fyi