While the federal investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server while she was Secretary of State was underway, “several FBI field offices” asked the Justice Department to investigate the murky connections between the State Department and the Clinton Foundation, but were shutdown, according to a report by CNN.

“Several FBI field offices approached the Justice Department asking to open a case regarding the relationship between the State Department and the Clinton Foundation, according to a law enforcement official,” CNN said late Wednesday.

“At the time, DOJ declined because it had looked into allegations surrounding the Clinton Foundation around a year earlier and found there wasn’t sufficient evidence to open a case,” the report continued.

Federal officials were urging the Justice Department to expanded its probe to the Clinton Foundation following the release of The New York Times bestselling book Clinton Cashauthored by Breitbart News Senior Editor-at-Large Peter Schweizer. Clinton Cash first revealed the global nexus of influence peddling involving million dollar donations from foreign entities to the Clinton Foundation that often coincided with favorable State Department actions while Hillary Clinton was Secretary of State.

This revelation came just days after revelations found in the release of nearly 300 pages of emails belonging to then-Secretary of State Clinton that disclose the nefarious relationship between the State Department and the Clinton Foundation.

Earlier this week, the release of these never-before-seen emails show Clinton Foundation mega-donors asking for and promptly receiving favors and special access to high-ranking federal officials.

Follow Jerome Hudson on Twitter: @JeromeEHudson