Justice Dept. Considering Investigation into Clinton Foundation, Uranium One

The Justice Department of the United States sent a letter to the House Judiciary Committee yesterday, in which they essentially announced that yes, they are looking into investigating the Clinton Foundation.

Conservative news outlets have incessantly attempted to implicate the Clintons in the Uranium One deal—in which a Russian nuclear agency was allowed to buy an American company that dealt in uranium—since the story broke before the 2016 election. It was a 2010, Obama-era decision, but one that was allegedly helped by Russian donations to the Clinton Foundation. Now, the Justice Department is considering an investigation into the Foundation and the Uranium One deal, per The N.Y. Times.

Fox News, which appears to be the only form of media Trump ingests, has hammered Attorney General Jeff Sessions and the Justice Department for not investigating the deal. Trump, in turn, has expressed his own disappointment that his political rivals aren’t being investigated. If the investigation does begin, Sessions would be the one to appoint a special counsel to head up the inquiry.

The investigation would be a relatively obvious friendly gesture to President Donald Trump—the Justice Dept. was not considering an investigation into this issue before Trump whined to the press that he wanted it. And the investigation would have its opponents: Democrat Rep. Adam Schiff took to Twitter to decry the idea of the inquiry, saying that if they “bend to the pressure” of Trump, “it could spell the end of the DOJ as an independent institution.”

If the AG bends to pressure from President Trump and his allies, and appoints a special counsel to investigate Trump’s vanquished rival, it could spell the end of the DOJ as an independent institution. https://t.co/RkcL9Rsf8t

— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) November 14, 2017

Trump has essentially told the Department of Justice to “look at the Democrats,” for no real reason other than he and Fox News don’t like the Democrats. While Trump endlessly criticizes the Mueller investigation into his campaign’s collusion with Russia, the DOJ seems to be actively looking for ways to appease the president. Of course, Jeff Sessions swore he wouldn’t do that earlier this year, per The NYT:

During his Senate confirmation hearing this year, Mr. Sessions said he would not name a special prosecutor to investigate Mrs. Clinton even if ordered to do so by the president.

“This country does not punish its political enemies,” he told the Senate Judiciary Committee.