A former FBI informant who blew the whistle on a high-profile bribery case involving a Russian energy company was intimidated by Obama administration lawyers into dropping a civil suit against the government last year, his attorney says.
Victoria Toensing, the lawyer for the informant, told The Daily Caller’s Vince Coglianese that Obama Justice Department lawyers told her client that “his reputation and liberty [was] in jeopardy” if he did not drop a lawsuit against the government.
On Wednesday, the Trump Justice Department released the informant from a confidentiality agreement, clearing the way for him to testify before several congressional committees about his undercover work at Uranium One, a Canada-based energy company that has ties to Bill and Hillary Clinton and their family foundation.
In 2010, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), an inter-agency governmental committee that reviews applications for foreign purchases of companies, granted the Russia-owned energy company Rosatom the right to purchase Uranium One.
The deal, which gave Rosatom control over 20 percent of U.S. uranium reserves, was approved despite evidence from the informant which showed that Uranium One was involved in a massive bribery and extortion scheme.
The informant, who has not been publicly identified, helped the FBI while working for Uranium One from 2009 to 2014.
The Justice Department’s waiver will allow the informant to meet with the Senate Judiciary Committee, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and the House Intelligence Committee.
The FBI and Justice Department had previously blocked the informant from speaking with Congress or anyone else.
“The Russians have threatened him, and up until just last night the U.S. government has threatened him,” Toensing told Coglianese during an interview on WMAL’s “Mornings on the Mall.”
“He was told that if he didn’t dismiss the case his reputation and liberty were in jeopardy.”
The Clinton’s connections to Uranium One are also under scrutiny.
Uranium One executives donated millions of dollars to the Clinton Foundation during the period when the sale of the company was being considered by CFIUS. As secretary of state at the time the Uranium One sale was approved, Hillary Clinton served on the inter-agency government panel.
WATCH NOW: THE CLINTON-RUSSIAN BRIBERY SCHEME AND URANIUM
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