State Department officials must produce records of agency officials’ communications with the Clinton Foundation from Hillary Clinton’s time in office by September, a federal judge ruled Tuesday.
The battle to obtain correspondence between three of Clinton’s top staffers and officials at her family’s foundation, as well as communications with a controversial consulting firm, has raged in federal court since a conservative group filed suit against the State Department on March 16.
Citizens United, a right-leaning activist nonprofit, sued the agency after it ignored a series of Freedom of Information Act requests for the records of Huma Abedin, Cheryl Mills and Kris Balderston, all longtime Clinton insiders and key aides at Clinton’s State Department.
David Bossie, president of Citizens United, said his group pushed for an earlier deadline in court but that the judge set a “reasonable timetable” for the State Department to hand over the requested documents.
“Often in FOIA litigation the government misses deadlines imposed by the court and requests additional time,” said Bossie, whose group filed several requests for the State Department records last year. “Judge [Emmet] Sullivan has made clear that will not be tolerated in his courtroom.”
Bossie said the lawyer representing the government in the case said the State Department could begin rolling out records in as little as 60 days.
“Through these records we expect to learn more of how Clinton Inc. operated inside and outside the State Department,” he said.
Abedin and Mills both rotated in and out of roles at the State Department and the Clinton Foundation, with Abedin serving simultaneously as an aide to then-Secretary Clinton and as a consultant to the foundation in 2012.
During that time, Abedin also worked with Teneo Strategies, a consulting firm founded by longtime Bill Clinton staffer Douglas Band.
Citizens United is seeking correspondence between Band and Kris Balderston, who served Hillary Clinton in the State Department as her special representative for global partnerships.
In an unrelated FOIA case, the State Department argued it needed extra time to produce requested documents due to a “surge” in open records lawsuits.
The agency is presently fending off 79 different FOIA cases.
Citizens United submitted its trio of records requests for Abedin and Mills’ communications in July 2014.
