Barack Obama

Washington : Two more Republican-led congressional committees have launched investigations into a deal on selling part of US uranium production capability to a Russian state-run energy company by the then Barack Obama administration.

Republican Devin Nunes, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said on Tuesday that he would be linking up with the House Oversight panel in the probe of the deal, Xinhua news agency reported.

The news came days after reports suggesting that under the Obama era, there was a broader bribery plot around the deal in Russia’s bid to gain a foothold in the US energy industry.

The GOP-led Senate Judiciary Committee has already said it would look into the case.

In response, Democrats widely dismissed the issue as a GOP attempt to distract from the ongoing investigation into alleged Russian meddling in the US 2016 presidential campaign.

On Monday, Hillary Clinton, the 2016 Democratic presidential candidate, called the reports questioning the sale of US uranium mines to Russia “baloney”.

The deal was reached during her time as secretary of state.

—IANS