Ray Hulser, a top prosecutor on special counsel Jack Smith’s team, was identified as the official who discouraged the FBI from investigating the Clinton Foundation in 2016, despite multiple Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) related to foreign transactions, according to a new report by Fox News Digital.
Hulser, the former chief of the DOJ’s Public Integrity Section (PIN), currently serves on Smith’s team prosecuting former President Trump. He was identified in special counsel John Durham’s report as having declined prosecution of the Clinton Foundation.
In January 2016, three different FBI field offices opened investigations into possible criminal activity involving the Clinton Foundation. The investigations were based on an intelligence product and corroborating financial reporting that suggested a federal public official might have engaged in a flow of benefits scheme. This involved large monetary contributions to a nonprofit under the control of the federal public official in exchange for favorable government action and/or influence.
The investigation out of Washington was opened as a preliminary investigation to determine if additional information could corroborate allegations in the book “Clinton Cash” by Peter Schweizer, before converting the matter to a full investigation. The New York and Little Rock investigations had predication based on source reporting that identified foreign governments making or offering contributions to the Foundation in exchange for favorable treatment from Clinton.
The Durham report revealed that due to the investigations by three different FBI field offices, coordination meetings were necessary. These meetings involved the field offices, FBI Headquarters and appropriate U.S. Attorney’s offices as well as components from the main Justice Department. The investigations were deemed sensitive as they occurred in an election year with Clinton as a declared presidential candidate.
A meeting on February 1, 2016, included several FBI officials, Criminal Division Assistant Attorney General Leslie Caldwell and Hulser. Durham interviewed Hulser, who stated that the FBI briefing on the Clinton Foundation was poorly presented and there was insufficient predication for at least one of the investigations due to its reliance on allegations contained in a book.
“Hulser downplayed information provided by the New York Field Office CHS [confidential human source] and recalled that the amount involved in the financial reporting was ‘de minimus,’” the report states.
Durham’s team reviewed the financial reporting to understand the allegations. The reporting described multiple funds transfers, some involving international bank accounts suspected of facilitating bribery or gratuity violations. The transactions occurred between 2012 and 2014, totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The Durham report does not explicitly state the words “Suspicious Activity Report,” but the activity described is typically the subject of such reports.
During the February 2016 meeting, Hulser declined prosecution of the Clinton Foundation on behalf of the DOJ’s Public Integrity Section. He made it clear, however, that his decision was not binding on the various U.S. attorneys’ offices or FBI field divisions. Another individual present for the meeting described the Justice Department’s reaction to the Clinton Foundation briefing as hostile.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges stemming from Smith’s investigation related to both Jan. 6 and 2020 election interference as well as his case related to classified records.
As for the Clinton Foundation probes, another meeting in February 2016 saw then-Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe initially directing the field offices to close their cases. However, following objections, he agreed to reconsider the final disposition of the cases.
Current Deputy FBI Director Paul Abbate recalled McCabe stating that the DOJ said “there’s nothing here” and “why are we even doing this?” At the end of the meeting, it was announced that for any overt investigative steps to be taken, McCabe’s approval would be required.
By May 2016, then-FBI Director James Comey directed the FBI’s New York Field Office to cease and desist from the Clinton Foundation investigation due to some undisclosed counterintelligence concern. Durham was not able to determine what the counterintelligence issue raised by Comey was.
By August 2016, a meeting was held to direct that the Washington and Little Rock investigations be closed and consolidated into the New York investigation. However, U.S. attorneys’ offices declined to issue subpoenas. Durham included this information in his report to show the contrast between how the FBI handled Clinton matters in comparison to the Trump-Russia probe, known internally as “Crossfire Hurricane.”
The report states that the NYFO and WFO investigations were opened as preliminary investigations due to political sensitivity and their reliance on unvetted hearsay information (the Clinton Cash book) and confidential human source reporting. By contrast, the Crossfire Hurricane investigation was immediately opened as a full investigation despite being similarly predicated on hearsay information.
Durham added that while the DOJ appeared to have legitimate concerns about the Clinton Foundation investigation occurring so close to the presidential election, it does not appear that similar concerns were expressed by the Department or FBI regarding the Crossfire Hurricane investigation.
Special counsel Robert Mueller’s nearly two-year investigation yielded no evidence of criminal conspiracy or coordination between the Trump campaign and Russian officials during the 2016 presidential election.
Durham found that the FBI failed to act on a clear warning sign that the bureau was the target of a Hillary Clinton-led effort to manipulate or influence the law enforcement process for political purposes against Trump ahead of the 2016 presidential election.
Hulser was the top prosecutor for the government’s 2015 corruption case against New Jersey Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez – which was dismissed after a hung jury failed to reach a verdict. He also was involved in the Justice Department’s prosecution of former Trump White House trade adviser Peter Navarro, who was convicted of contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena from the January 6 committee.
