Clinton pushes back on Russian uranium deal reports: ‘Baloney’

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Monday that renewed focus on Russian uranium deals approved during her tenure is nothing more than debunked “baloney” and a sign that Republicans are nervous about the current intelligence probe into Moscow’s efforts to meddle with last year’s election.

“I think the real story is how nervous they are about these continuing investigations,” the former Democratic presidential nominee said during an interview broadcast on C-SPAN.

The renewed interest in the so-called Uranium One deal came after The Hill reported last week that the FBI had gathered solid evidence that Russian nuclear industry officials were engaged in bribery and extortion before the Obama administration approved the sale to Russia of a company that controls 20 percent of America’s uranium supply.

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The Hill further reported Sunday that the FBI had identified a Russian spy ring’s attempt in 2009 and 2010 to infiltrate Clinton’s inner circle through a donor friend in order to spy on the State Department. Agents arrested and deported the female spy before anything could happen.

Though stories in The Hill were based on court documents, declassified law enforcement memos and interviews with career officials, Clinton said any accusations of wrongdoing were partisan in nature.

“I would say it’s the same baloney they’ve been peddling for years, and there’s been no credible evidence by anyone. In fact, it’s been debunked repeatedly and will continue to be debunked,” she said.

“But here is what they are doing, and I have to give them credit. [President] Trump and his allies, including Fox News, are really experts at distraction and diversion,” she continued. “So the closer the investigation about real Russian ties between Trump associates and real Russians, as we heard [Attorney General] Jeff Sessions finally admit to in his testimony the other day, the more they want to just throw mud on the wall.”

Clinton added, “I’m their favorite target. Me and President Obama, we are the ones they like to put in the crosshairs.”

Multiple congressional committees, including the Senate Judiciary panel and the House Intelligence panel, are taking steps to investigate the new information reported by The Hill and talk to an undercover informant who worked the nuclear bribery case.