The Justice Department investigated the Clinton Foundation until Trump’s final days

The research of Mr. Schweizer caught the attention of FBI agents in Washington, who opened an investigation into the allegations in his book in 2016.

The FBI in New York and Little Rock, Ark., have also opened investigations, but apparently not based on the book, according to the final report from John H. Durham, the Trump-era special counsel who led an investigation into the investigation of the agency into possible ties between Mr Trump’s campaign and Russia.

In his report, made public last week, Mr. Durham examined the handling of the Clinton Foundation investigation and compared it to the FBI’s handling of the Russia investigation. As part of his investigation, Mr. Durham interviewed Ms. Clinton last spring. “Secretary Clinton was interviewed voluntarily by Special Counsel Durham on May 11, 2022,” said David E. Kendall, her attorney. “No topic was off limits. She answered every question.”

The Justice Department did not think highly of the foundation’s investigations, which frustrated FBI agents. Raymond N. Hulser, a district attorney in charge of the Public Integrity Section at the time, told Mr. Durham that the Washington case based on the book had no prediction.

Indeed, some prosecutors at the time believed that the book had been discredited.

The investigation became a source of friction at the FBI, as agents believed the Justice Department had interfered with their work.

That tension spilled over into public opinion and had far-reaching consequences.

Andrew G. McCabe, then deputy director of the FBI, was accused of leaking information about the case to a Wall Street Journal reporter and later lying about it to the Justice Department’s inspector general. The episode led to his firing in 2018 and a failed attempt by the department to prosecute him.

In August 2016, the three foundation cases were consolidated under the supervision of agents in New York. Agents were authorized to request subpoenas from the US law firms in Manhattan and Brooklyn, but prosecutors refused to issue them. The investigation seemed to be at a standstill.