Obama Ignored FBI, Made Sure Russians in Clinton Uranium One Scandal Got Visas

Court records show that a Russian nuclear official was twice granted visas to enter the United States by the Obama administration despite the fact that officials highly suspected he was involved in money laundering, The Hill reported Tuesday.

The latest development in the Uranium One scandal came on the same day the attorney representing an FBI informant who alerted federal officials to Russia’s attempts to bribe, blackmail and kickback their way into the U.S. uranium industry claimed the information had made its way into the president’s daily intelligence briefings.

According to The Hill, an executive of the Russian state-owned nuclear conglomerate Tenex named Vadim Mikerin was able to obtain an L1 temporary work visa when he arrived in the United States in December of 2011. However, the FBI’s investigation under then-Director Robert Mueller had found that Mikerin was engaged in an “illegal racketeering scheme involving bribery, kickbacks, extortion and money laundering” as early as 2009.

“The main immigration law says that you may not grant a visa to someone you know is engaged in criminal conduct,” The Hill’s John Solomon said during an appearance on Fox News’ “Hannity” on Wednesday night.

“And specifically, there’s a section that says that says if you know they’re involved in money laundering. Well, we know the Russian nuclear official (Mikerin) that was eventually indicted was involved in money laundering.”

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Check it out here. The visa discussion starts about the 6-minute mark.

What’s more, Mikerin’s visa was renewed in August of 2014, even though his company had applied for the visa extension in the summer of 2011. Just months later after the renewal, Mikerin would find himself under arrest on extortion charges. Congress now wants answers about how that was allowed.

“It is concerning that a suspected criminal was able to apply for and renew a work visa while being under FBI investigation,” Republican Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley wrote in a Tuesday letter to the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security.

After Mikerin was eventually sentenced to four years in prison in 2015, Assistant U.S. Attorney Ephraim Wernick seemed to wonder aloud why the Tenex executive was allowed to stay in the United States in the first place.

“Why is a Russian official coming to the U.S., soliciting bribes from companies working in these sensitive areas?” Wernick asked in a Reuters report from December of 2015.

Meanwhile, The Hill’s report also quoted Victoria Toensing — the lawyer for the unnamed FBI informant whose information about Russia’s designs helped reignite the Uranium One case. Toensing said her client told her that the information he provided went straight to the top.

“On at least two occasions my client was told by his FBI agent handlers that information about the Russian nuclear bribery scheme he uncovered had been briefed to President Obama and that agents were keeping then-FBI Director Robert Mueller informed as well,” Toensing said. “One of the briefings occurred before the Obama administration approved the Uranium One deal in fall 2010.

“While he has not first-hand knowledge of what was in the president’s daily briefings, he was told unequivocally by the agents that information from the bribery case had been shared with the president and other senior officials and was given praise for providing that evidence,” Toensing continued.

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Why these warnings passed through the FBI went unheeded and why it took so long for the FBI to make its moves on Mikerin and his visa is anyone’s guess. House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence

You know who was, though? Robert Mueller, the head of the FBI. And now he’s the one investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election, such as it may be.

He shouldn’t be in that position. And not just because of the visas or its handling of the Uranium One incident. Look at his fishing expedition against the Trump administration — or the fact that he’s now investigating the firing of James Comey, a close colleague and friend of his — or the bureau’s handling of the Trump dossier.

As the Wall Street Journal’s Holman W. Jenkins Jr. noted, “By any normal evidentiary, probative or journalistic measure, the big story here is the FBI — its politicized handling of Russian matters, and not competently so.”

That’s the big story. When will the mainstream media catch up to that?

H/T The Daily Wire

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