Clinton Scandal: Americans overwhelmingly support the appointment of a special counsel to investigate the 2010 deal that gave Russia direct control over one-fifth of the U.S.' uranium, a new IBD/TIPP Poll shows.
Of the 50% who said they were following the uranium story closely, 68% said they would like the "Justice Department to appoint a special counsel to investigate the uranium deal with Russia," the poll's data indicated.
The convoluted deal involved a transaction in which Uranium One, a Canadian firm, was acquired by the Russian government-controlled nuclear monopoly Rosatom.
But the deal had to be approved by the U.S. government, due to Uranium One's extensive holdings in the U.S. The acquisition sailed through, in part because Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gave her strong approval.
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However, it was later revealed that investors in Uranium One linked to Russia had given the Clinton Foundation more than $140 million in donations.
As we wrote in October, "while top Obama administration officials were deciding whether to hand over control of one-fifth of the nation's uranium supplies to Russia, the FBI had piles of evidence that officials at Rosatom were flagrantly violating U.S. laws and possibly compromising national security. The FBI also had evidence that officials had directed millions of dollars to Hillary Clinton's family charity, creating a clear conflict of interest."
Unfortunately, no one in the Obama administration let the public know all of this before the deal was approved. In fact, Hillary Clinton's role didn't come to light until she left the Secretary of State's office to run for president.
As usual, there were partisan differences based on party affiliations, but support for a special counsel was strong.
Even among Democrats, some 54% said a special counsel needed to look into the deal; 82% of Republicans said the same, as did 66% of independents. The support is broad and multipartisan.
The poll also asked of respondents whether they "believe that Russian donations to the Clinton Foundation played a role in the previous administration's decision to approve the uranium deal with Russia or not."
Here the answer again showed a majority answering yes, by 55% to 36%, with 9% saying they were unsure.
But a much more pronounced partisan split was evident in the data, with only 24% of Democrats saying that donations to the Clinton Foundation played a role in the deal being approved, vs. 84% of Republicans and 53% of independents.
While the 2010 deal may seem long ago, it is relevant today. Robert Mueller, who today heads the troubled investigation into the Donald Trump campaign and alleged meddling by the Russians in the 2016 presidential election, headed the FBI from 2000 to 2011.
It's not clear why his office, which found evidence of egregious lawbreaking by the Russians, never publicized his findings or issued a warning about letting the deal go through.
Recent revelations that key members of his current investigative team — in particular, FBI agent Peter Strzok, a veteran of both the Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump investigations — held strongly anti-Trump views, as expressed in emails that have been made public.
The IBD/TIPP Poll suggests strongly that this news has unsettled Americans and raised serious questions about the conduct of both Hillary Clinton and the Obama administration. And, on a bipartisan basis, they'd like some answers.