WASHINGTON – The largest individual contributor to the Clinton Foundation may have sold nuclear technology to Iran while Hillary Clinton was secretary of state, according to a former congressman.
Former Rep. Steve Stockman, R-Texas, told WND he tried to alert the Obama administration to the problem but was ignored.
"It seems possible, Hillary Clinton, for getting that money, ended up benefiting from selling potential nuclear parts to Iran," Stockman told WND.
Newsweek recently reported that Ukrainian oligarch Victor Pinchuk "has been trading with Iran and may be in breach of U.S. sanctions imposed on the country."
But Stockman told WND what Newsweek did not know was that Pinchuk may have sold Iran "dual-use" technology that could be used in the country's nuclear program, a much graver violation of sanctions.
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And the sales occurred when Secretary of State Clinton was in charge of monitoring the list of non-U.S. companies trading with Iran and was responsible for sanctions enforcement.
Newsweek reported Stockman wrote to the Treasury Department in November 2014, questioning Interpipe Group's dealings with Iran.
The magazine described Interpipe as "a Cyprus-incorporated manufacturer of seamless pipes used in oil and gas sectors."
Stockman's letter referred to a "body of evidence" detailing "exports from Interpipe to Iranian entities" that "may have contravened US sanctions to Iran."
At least one sale, in May 2012, of $1.8 million exceeded the sanctions limit of "any single invoice to the Iranian petrochemical industry worth more than $1 million."
But Stockman told WND he had suspicions the sales violated U.S. policy banning the export of dual-use technology to Iran.
And that is why, he told WND, he did not send a letter to just the Treasury Department, as Newsweek reported.
He told WND he also sent a letter to the Energy Department.
Stockman said he was told by sources in Ukraine that the piping sent to Iran could be used in the building of nuclear reactors.
The retired congressman told WND he didn't mention possible dual-use violations in the letters, but the mere fact he was alerting the Energy Department should have tipped them to an obvious concern.
"We sent it to the Energy Department because, although we didn't have proof of dual-use, we were suspicious, given the product and the information. I'm not a nuclear scientist, but there was enough suspicion there to send the letter," said Stockman.
He said he never received any response from the Obama administration.
"There was zero follow-up by anybody, as far as I could tell. And this is a letter from a congressman. You would think they would respond to it. They didn't. They don't care."
WND asked what made Stockman suspicious of Pinchuk in the first place.
The congressman said the tip came as a result of visiting Ukraine and supporting its democracy movement, as WND previously reported, and developing connections there.
"To a certain degree, they were willing to trust someone who had shown he was willing to do something about their situation."
Did he know about the Clinton Foundation involvement at the time when he wrote the letters?
"We knew she was secretary of state, but we didn't know of the financial contributions. We've been sending letters to the administration on various issues and never got a response to any of them."
Newsweek reported Pinchuk "has courted the Clintons for at least nine years – in the United States, the Alps and Ukraine."
The magazine also reported:
- "Newsweek has seen declarations and documents from Ukraine that show a series of shipments from Interpipe to Iran in 2011 and 2012, including railway parts and products commonly used in the oil and gas sectors."
- "Among a number of high-value invoices for products related to rail or oil and gas, one shipment for $1.8m (1.7m) in May 2012 was for 'seamless hot-worked steel pipes for pipelines' and destined for a city near the Caspian Sea."
- "Both the rail and oil and gas sectors are sanctioned by the US, which specifically prohibits any single invoice to the Iranian petrochemical industry worth more than $1m."
- "The person in charge of this list of non-US companies is the Secretary of State, who between 2009 to 2013 – the period during which Pinchuk’s company was trading with Iran – was Hillary Clinton."
- "Pinchuk became particularly friendly with Bill Clinton. In 2010, he invited the former president to his 50th birthday party in the French ski resort of Courchevel. In return, Pinchuk attended Clinton’s 65th in 2011, and was a guest at the inauguration of Clinton’s Presidential Library. The Clintons spoke at Pinchuk’s Yalta European Strategy conference, which seeks integration between Ukraine and Europe."
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