Watchdog files FOIA lawsuit over records on Hillary Clinton's security clearance

 

A conservative watchdog group has filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the State Department over access to records on former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's security clearance status.

Filed earlier this week by Judicial Watch, the lawsuit also seeks all records related to four of Clinton's top aides from her time leading the department.

Clinton’s security clearance was "administratively withdrawn" at "her request" on Aug. 30, according to a letter sent to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa from State Department official Charles Faulkner. Cheryl Mills, who served as Clinton’s chief of staff, and four other individuals, whose names were redacted in the letter, had their access withdrawn in September.


Judicial Watch said Clinton's security clearance was withdrawn nine days after the group filed a FOIA request on Aug. 21 seeking information on her security clearance status.

The group, noting that the letter indicates the individuals may have been cited for "valid security incidents," said it filed its lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia after the State Department failed to respond. Judicial Watch seeks: "Any and all records concerning, regarding, or relating to the security clearance status of Clinton, Huma Abedin, Cheryl Mills, Jacob Sullivan and Phillipe Reines."

The letter to Grassley was part of the department’s investigation into the mishandling of classified information when Clinton used a private email server when she was the nation’s top diplomat. Clinton's request came a week after President Trump revoked the security clearance of former CIA Director John Brennan. The status of Clinton’s clearance at the time was not publicly known.

"The State Department needs to provide the full truth on the security clearances of Hillary Clinton and her top aides and why the agency allowed Mrs. Clinton to keep her clearance despite her mishandling of classified information and related false statements," Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said in a press release on the lawsuit.

SOURCE:
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/watchdog-files-foia-lawsuit-over-records-on-hillary-clintons-security-clearance