A federal judge on Tuesday slammed the State Department for “bad faith” and “constantly shifting admissions” in turning over files related to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server.
“Where there is evidence of government wrongdoing and bad faith, as here, limited discovery is appropriate,” U.S. District Court Judge Royce Lamberth wrote as part of a ruling that a watchdog group could proceed with discovery related to Clinton’s server.
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The case relates to a May 2014 Freedom of Information Act request filed by Judicial Watch. The group asked for records of talking points used by then-U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice on the issue of the September 2012 attacks on U.S. facilities in Benghazi.
The State Department argued that it had no obligation to find the records because they were out of its possession at the time the request was filed. It did obtain them in December 2014 when Clinton turned over records that she had kept on a hidden private server stored in her basement.
Lamberth said that Judicial Watch was justified in disputing the department’s lackadaisical treatment of the issue. “The State Department’s willingness to now search documents voluntarily turned over to the Department by Secretary Clinton and other officials hardly transforms such a search into an ‘adequate’ or ‘reasonable’ one.
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“Plaintiff is not relying on ‘speculation’ or ‘surmise’ as the State Department claims,” he added. “Plaintiff is relying on constantly shifting admissions by the government and the former government officials.”
Lamberth is the second judge this month to rule in favor of a request from Judicial Watch to proceed with discovery related to Clinton’s tenure as secretary of state. U.S. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan earlier ruled that the group could pursue depositions of former Clinton aides to find more information about records related to Huma Abedin, Clinton’s deputy chief of staff at the agency.
Lamberth asked that Judicial Watch return with a plan for discovery within 10 days of Sullivan’s next ruling on the issue, which will come in April.
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“Whether the State Department’s actions will ultimately be determined by the court to not be ‘acting in good faith’ remains to be seen at this time,” Lamberth wrote, “but plaintiff is clearly entitled to discovery and a record before this court rules on that issue.”
