Former U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton speaks during an interview with Mariella Frostrup at the Cheltenham Literature Festival in Cheltenham, Britain October 15, 2017. REUTERS/Rebecca Naden

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican leaders of two committees in the U.S. House of Representatives launched an investigation on Tuesday into the purchase by a Russian firm several years ago of a Canadian company that owned some 20 percent of U.S. uranium supplies.

Republican lawmakers say they want to know whether the transaction was fully investigated by the FBI and other agencies before it was approved by a panel that oversees foreign investment in U.S. strategic assets.

Some Republicans have claimed that Hillary Clinton’s State Department approved the deal after her husband’s charitable foundation received a $145 million donation, but the State Department controls only one seat on the panel that approved the transaction and the New York Times has reported that Clinton did not participate in the decision.