DOJ: Sessions May Appoint Special Counsel for Clinton

Attorney general wants federal prosecutors to 'evaluate certain issues'
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Nov 14, 2017 12:08 AM CST
DoJ Is Considering a Clinton Foundation Special Counsel
In this Nov. 2, 2017, photo, Attorney General Jeff Sessions delivers remarks about defending national security at the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York.   (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

Attorney General Jeff Sessions is leaving open the possibility that a special counsel could be appointed to look into Clinton Foundation dealings and an Obama-era uranium deal, the Justice Department said Monday. In a letter to the House Judiciary Committee, the Justice Department said Sessions had directed senior federal prosecutors to "evaluate certain issues" recently raised by Republican lawmakers, the AP reports. The prosecutors will recommend whether any new investigations should be opened and whether it might be necessary to appoint a special counsel to oversee a probe, according to a letter sent to Rep. Robert Goodlatte of Virginia, the Judiciary Committee's Republican chairman.

The letter from Assistant Attorney General Stephen Boyd didn't say what specific steps might be taken by the Justice Department to address the lawmakers' concerns, or whether any of the matters Republicans have seized on might already be under investigation. Any appointment of a new special counsel, particularly in response to calls from members of Congress or from President Trump, is likely to lead to Democratic complaints about an undue political influence on the department's decision-making. In apparent anticipation of those concerns, Boyd said in the letter that the Justice Department "will never evaluate any matter except on the facts and the law." (Clinton is the subject of two House investigations.)

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