The New York Times has reported that leaders of a Canadian mining company with extensive U.S. uranium stakes made large donations to the Clinton family foundation at a time when Russia was acquiring the firm in a deal approved by the State Department under Hillary Clinton.
The influential U.S. newspaper published its report on April 23, less than two weeks after Clinton announced she is running for president in 2016 -- the office her husband, Bill Clinton, held from 1993 to 2001.
According to the report, Canadian records show that "a flow of cash made its way to the Clinton Foundation" as the Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom was in the process of assuming control of the Canadian company, Uranium One, in three transactions from 2009 to 2013.
The Times said the deal, which gave Russia control of one-fifth of the U.S. uranium production capacity, required approval by a committee composed of representatives of several U.S. government agencies. It said the State Department, under Clinton, "eventually signed off" on it.
The newspaper quoted a spokesman for Clinton's campaign as saying nobody "has ever produced a shred of evidence that she ever took action as secretary of state to support the interests of donors to the Clinton Foundation."
The Times said that Uranium One's chairman used his family foundation to make four donations totaling $2.25 million, and that other people with ties to the company also had made donations.
It said that not long after Russia announced its intention to acquire a majority stake in Uranium One, Bill Clinton "received $500,000 for a Moscow speech from a Russian investment bank with links to the Kremlin that was promoting Uranium One stock."
The New York Times report said it was unclear whether the donations played any role in approval of the deal, which advanced Russian President Vladimir Putin's goal of increasing the Russian share of the world uranium supply chain.