Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-VA, speaks with Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., on opening day of the 115th Congress, at the U.S. Capitol Building on January 3. The two chairman of House committees announced Tuesday that they have opened a joint investigation into decisions made by the Justice Department while it was investigating Hillary Clinton. File Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI |
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Oct. 24 (UPI) -- House Republicans on Tuesday announced two joint investigations involving Hillary Clinton -- one during her time as secretary of state, the other associated with her 2016 presidential campaign.
House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., and House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., said in a joint statement that decisions by the Justice Department during President Barack Obama's final year in office led to a "host of outstanding questions."
"Our justice system is represented by a blind-folded woman holding a set of scales," they said. "Those scales do not tip to the right or the left; they do not recognize wealth, power, or social status. The impartiality of our justice system is the bedrock of our republic and our fellow citizens must have confidence in its objectivity, independence, and evenhandedness. The law is the most equalizing force in this country. No entity or individual is exempt from oversight."
According to the chairmen, the investigation will include the FBI's decision to publicly announce the investigation into Clinton's handling of classified information as secretary of state but not publicly announcing the probe into campaign associates of then-candidate Donald Trump.
They also will investigate why former FBI Director James Comey notified Congress in October 2016 about the reopening of the investigation into Clinton's email server.
They plan to review the "FBI's timeline in respect to charging decisions." Comey reportedly began drafting the statement announcing his decision to vindicate the Democratic presidential candidate before the investigation's conclusion.
"The committees will review these decisions and others to better understand the reasoning behind how certain conclusions were drawn," the House chairmen said. "Congress has a constitutional duty to preserve the integrity of our justice system by ensuring transparency and accountability of actions taken."
Gowdy led the House select committee that spent two years investigating a 2012 attack on a U.S. diplomatic compound on Benghazi, Libya, while Clinton was secretary of state. The probe found there was no new evidence of wrongdoing on Clinton's part.
But during this investigation, Clinton's use of an email account on a private server was revealed.
Meanwhile, the House intelligence, and Oversight and Government Reform committees announced an investigation into the sale of a U.S. uranium company to a Russian company in 2010. The sale took place while Clinton was secretary of state.
Intelligence committee Chairman Rep. Devin Nunes, of California, announced the inquiry Tuesday.
The panels plan to investigate whether the FBI probed the deal and if so, why Congress wasn't told about it. Some Republicans say the Russian company gave a donation to the Clinton Foundation in order to encourage Clinton to approve the deal.
Rep. Pete King, R-N.Y., said there are "very, very real concerns about why we would allow a Russian-owned company to get access to 20 percent of America's uranium supply."
Clinton told C-SPAN last week the accusations were "baloney" that had been "debunked repeatedly."
