WASHINGTON — Republicans say their unified support behind the newly launched congressional probes into the Uranium One deal guarantees the Justice Department will pay attention.
Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee called on the Department of Justice back in July to appoint a second special counsel to address issues outside the spectrum of Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russia. However, DOJ has yet to respond to the committee.
“It’s been almost three months. We asked for a special counsel and they haven’t given us an answer and we’ve asked for certain documents and they haven’t given us the documents, so it’s three months,” Ohio Republican Rep. Jim Jordan, a member on the committee, told The Daily Caller Monday night. “This is a Republican Department justice where is our information?”
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes says the new probes launched into the Uranium One deal will demand the attention of the Justice Department just by the fact that more committees are now involved and Republican House leadership fully support the investigation.
“Well, I think a lot of some of you have followed our challenges dealing with DOJ and FBI getting timely information including the IC [Intelligence Committee],” Nunes said Tuesday. “That’s one of the reasons for working jointly with the Oversight Committee, because they have, quite frankly, they have broader powers and they oversee basically all of government where on our side. We have the classified side.”
Nunes continued, “So that’s been one of the challenges I think a lot of our members did not know but because we are the holder of the place where you can bring Topsy-Turvy information. We were in contact with folks who have been bringing us information over the last several months.”
He added, “So last Congress, this really was not investigated, but I’m happy to report that the House leadership is fully behind this current investigation and so I would have liked to have done this a little sooner, but we are where we are and we’re going to get the facts now with their support.”
The Uranium One deal relates to the 2010 State Department approval of the sale of a Canadian mining company Uranium One to Russia’s Rosatom nuclear company.
The Hill reported that the FBI may have covered up evidence since at least 2009 that Russian officials engaged in bribes, kickbacks and other schemes to acquire the uranium in the U.S.