Senate Judiciary opens probe into Obama-era Russian nuclear bribery case

The Senate Judiciary Committee has launched a probe into a Russian nuclear bribery case, demanding several federal agencies disclose whether they knew the FBI had uncovered the corruption before the Obama administration in 2010 approved a controversial uranium deal with Moscow.

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), the committee chairman, gets his first chance to raise the issue in public on Wednesday when he questions Attorney General Jeff Sessions during an oversight hearing.

Aides said the committee had sent requests for information to 10 federal agencies involved in the Russian uranium approvals.

The committee is discussing other bipartisan requests to make in the coming days, and Grassley also is expected to seek access to potential witnesses soon, escalating from the information requests he made a few years back, according to people familiar with the investigation.

The senator also specifically conveyed in the latest letters he no longer accepts the Obama administration's assurances from 2015 that there was no basis to block the Uranium One deal.

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