A newly uncovered 2017 DOJ memo details how top Obama-era officials, including then-Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates, repeatedly obstructed FBI field offices investigating allegations that Hillary Clinton traded political favors for donations to the Clinton Foundation while serving as Secretary of State.
The memo, secured by FBI Director Kash Patel’s team and backed by corroborating internal emails, describes political interference from Yates, former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, and DOJ leadership in Washington, New York, and Little Rock.
Agents sought assistance from federal prosecutors to assess whether any crimes had been committed during Hillary Clinton’s tenure as Secretary of State, particularly as her family foundation at the time had received hundreds of millions of dollars from domestic and foreign entities that had business dealings with her department. They were told the Justice Department “would not be supportive” of an investigation.
In early 2016, McCabe ordered that “no overt investigative steps” could be taken without his approval, a restriction repeated for months. Little Rock investigators said they were later informed Yates had explicitly ordered prosecutors to “shut it down,” with no explanation given. Prosecutors in both SDNY and EDNY refused to back the case, and after months of delay, officials raised concerns about statutes of limitations — pushing to “close this chapter” after the 2016 election.
Inspector General Michael Horowitz later found McCabe failed to fully comply with his recusal from the Clinton Foundation probe and “lacked candor” in multiple interviews about his role. His actions, the IG said, were designed to protect personal interests and violated DOJ media policy. McCabe was fired in 2018.
The memo also reveals that Lynch and Bill Clinton held a private June 2016 tarmac meeting, after which Lynch declined to recuse herself from the Clinton email probe. Weeks later, FBI Director James Comey cleared Clinton despite acknowledging “evidence of potential violations” in her handling of classified material. The Clinton Foundation investigation was effectively frozen while the FBI moved aggressively to open the Trump-Russia probe, a disparity Special Counsel John Durham later cited as stark evidence of political bias.
