Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly will determine whether or not the Trump
administration can withhold evidence that could shed light on
accusations Clinton and her staff mishandled classified information.
Rejecting arguments by State Department and Justice Department lawyers,
the judge ordered the State Department to file an affidavit addressing
why it should not have to search newly recovered Clinton emails.
The Freedom of Information Act lawsuit was brought by the
government-watchdog Judicial Watch after the State Department failed to
respond to a March 10, 2015, request.
[....]
Judicial Watch wants all records of requests by Clinton or her staff to
the State Department Office Security Technology seeking approval for
the use of an iPad or iPhone for official government business. It also
seeks communications related to the use of unauthorized electronic
devices for official government business.
“It
is frankly outrageous that Secretary Tillerson and Attorney General
Sessions allow their agencies to cover up for and defend Hillary
Clinton’s scandalous and potentially criminal conduct.”
Earlier this month, a Maryland judge ordered the state bar to
investigate allegations Clinton and her lawyers destroyed evidence
regarding their handling of classified information through a private
email server, which violated State Department policy. Clinton and her
associates were allowed to decide which of her 60,000 emails on her
private server to surrender to the State Department and which would be
withheld. About 33,000 were withheld as “private.” The FBI, however,
later found thousands of work-related emails that weren’t turned over
to the government.
Also this month, Judicial Watch released another 1,617 pages of
documentation obtained from the State Department that details
additional instances of “pay-to-play” by the Clinton Foundation when
Clinton was secretary of state. There’s also evidence of the routine
use of unsecured email accounts to transmit classified information.
Judicial Watch noted that in March 2016 it obtained State Department
documents in the case showing the effort of Cheryl Mills, Clinton’s
then-chief of staff, to obtain approval from the National Security
Agency for Clinton’s use a BlackBerry smartphone. NSA personnel had
denied Clinton’s requests, telling Clinton staff to “shut up and color.”
In June 2017, however, Judicial Watch presented evidence to the court
showing that Clinton knowingly used an unsecure BlackBerry device.
Peter Paul Crime
“Hillary Clinton knowingly used an unsecure email system and risky
iPads and smartphones to conduct classified and sensitive government
business,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.
“It is frankly outrageous that Secretary Tillerson and Attorney General
Sessions allow their agencies to cover up for and defend Hillary
Clinton’s scandalous and potentially criminal conduct.”
In July 2016, then-FBI Director James Comey announced the bureau would
not refer to the Justice Department for prosecution its probe of
Clinton’s handling of classified material, even though he said Clinton
was found to have been “grossly negligent.”
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