(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today it received 77 pages of heavily redacted Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) records in a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit revealing that Anthony “Tony” Rodham, the late brother of Hillary Clinton, was the subject of a 1996 FBI investigation involving allegations of potential wire and mail fraud connected to a proposed Romanian vehicle importation venture. The documents report that “the investigation has assumed sensitive political aspects because it has been determined that ANTHONY “TONY” RODHAM, a brother of HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON, may have played a role …”
Judicial Watch filed the December 2025 lawsuit after the FBI failed to respond to a June 2019 FOIA request for all investigative reports on Rodham (Judicial Watch, Inc. v. U.S. Department of Justice (No 1:25-cv-04237)).
In August 2019, the FBI acknowledged it had located over 13,000 pages of records responsive to the request, as well as audio and video files that are potentially responsive to the request. After years of delays, in May 2025, the FBI again acknowledged possession of responsive records and asked if there was still interest. Judicial Watch acknowledged its continued interest in having the request processed without modification of its scope. Having received no further response from the FBI, Judicial Watch filed suit.
The records, among other activities, discuss a proposed importation of vehicles from Romania in 1995, “the ARO 24 this spring at a base price of $9,828, including air conditioning and a driver’s-side air bag. It will also sell the ARO 10, a smaller, two-door vehicle, starting at $7,995.”
The records include an April 1996 report from the FBI’s Savannah office revealing that Rodham was the subject of an FBI investigation opened by the Miami Field Office under the case title “Anthony D. Rodham” and case number 196D-MM-79121. In FBI records, the “196” designation refers to wire fraud.
FBI records dated June 1996 describe a seemingly fraudulent scheme involving Tony Rodham and two associates:
Captioned matter is an investigation involving the solicitation by Subjects [Redacted] and [Redacted] of auto dealers throughout the United States. [Redacted] and [Redacted] own and operate EAST EUROPEAN IMPORTS, INC. (EEI), a U.S. Company, from corporate offices located in Coral Gables, Florida. [Emphasis in original] They have allegedly made claims to prospective dealers that EEI has the exclusive American rights for the importation of two models of a Romanian four-wheel drive vehicle, known as the “ARO”.
Questions have now arisen as to whether, in fact, EEI ever had a legitimate contract with the Romanian government, and/or with the Rumanian manufacturer or exporter of the ARO, to import these vehicles to the U.S. The investigation has assumed sensitive political aspects because it has been determined that ANTHONY “TONY” RODHAM, a brother of HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON, may have played a role in securing the alleged ARO importation rights on behalf of EEI. [Emphasis in original] RODHAM travelled to Romania with [Redacted]and [Redacted] and met with Romanian officials in this regard. There are credible allegations RODHAM was directly told that [Redacted] and [Redacted] had submitted fraudulent and inflated financial statements to Romanian authorities in order to support EEI’s credibility as a viable importer of the ARO. Despite this notification, RODHAM has purportedly continued to promote EEI to the Romanian government as a legitimate importer of the vehicles.
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To obtain an “exclusive” franchise for the sale of ARO vehicles within a specific geographic territory, EEI representatives have solicited deposits of at least $30,000 from each prospective ARO dealer. These monies were provided to EEI as partial payment for an ARO “Parts, Special Tools and Sign Package”, with the balance of monies [$39,900] for full payment of the franchise (a total cost of $69,900) due to EEI upon the company’s acceptance of the dealer’s application.
It should be noted that, to date, NO ARO vehicles have ever been imported by EEI from Romania for sale in the United States. [Emphasis in original] Miami investigation has revealed, in fact, that there is very little likelihood an ARO vehicle will ever be imported to America by EEI. [Emphasis in original] Miami is also aware Subjects[Redacted] and [Redacted] were involved during 1986 through 1987 in a virtually identical scheme as the one described herein to import the ARO vehicle from Romania to the U.S. and to the Caribbean. At that time, their business was known as ROMAN MOTORS CORPORATION.
“After more than two decades of delay, these FBI records reveal a criminal investigation involving Hillary Clinton’s brother and raise serious questions about what remains hidden in the government’s files not only about Hillary’s brother but Hillary Clinton herself,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.
Rodham for decades used his connections with the Clintons to further his interests. Rodham described himself as a “facilitator” and had a range of opportunities, like addressing Chinese investor conferences and joining an advisory board of a company seeking permission to mine for gold in Haiti. Among other controversies, Rodham also pursued contracts in post-earthquake Haiti, seeking a $22 million housing deal while Bill Clinton co-chaired the recovery commission, a proposal that collapsed.
While Hillary Clinton was secretary of State, former Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe and Rodham were involved in a controversy over their involvement in the EB-5 cash-for-visas program, in which they raised at least $46 million from investors for their GreenTech Automotive electric-car company. Greentech filed for bankruptcy in February 2018.
In August 2017, Judicial Watch uncovered records from the State Department revealing repeated use of unsecured communications for classified information and numerous examples of Clinton Foundation donors receiving special favors from former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s. The emails also reveal instances of Rodham seeming to attempt to leverage his influence as Clinton’s brother: In January 2010, Clinton’s confidential assistant Monica Hanley forwarded to deputy chief of staff Huma Abedin a request from Rodham, on three issues. One involved help on a “green card renewal,” another involved a visit by someone of which Abedin said they “wanted to regret,” and a third involved a job for someone whose CV Rodham forwarded to State.
In July 2017, Judicial Watch received records from the State Department revealing incidents of Huma Abedin, providing special State Department treatment to major donors to the Clinton Foundation and political campaigns. The heavily redacted documents from Abedin’s non-government account included an email from Rodham to Abedin revealing he acted as a go-between for a Clinton Foundation donor, Richard Park. The records also revealed Clinton Foundation executive Doug Band instructing Abedin to “show love” to Clinton donor Andrew Liveris.
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