A conservative watchdog group is suing the Justice Department for all the materials the FBI recovered from former New York Rep. Anthony Weiner’s laptop before the 2016 presidential election.
Judicial Watch announced on Tuesday that it was taking legal action against DOJ under the Freedom of Information Act after the agency denied two information requests pertaining to the records seized in September 2016.
Judicial Watch’s lawsuit follows RealClearInvestigations reporting in August that the FBI reviewed only 3,077 of the almost 700,000 emails found on the laptop as part of its search for evidence related to claims Weiner had lewd exchanges with a 15-year-old girl.
Weiner shared the device with his then-wife Huma Abedin, who at the time was an aide to 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, and the FBI’s examination of the laptop yielded backed-up emails between Clinton and Abedin, as well as a handful that she had been manually forwarded to Weiner.
The discovery of the emails prompted then-FBI Director James Comey to inform Congress on Oct. 28, 2016 he had re-opened the bureau’s probe into Clinton’s private server use, despite earlier recommending that Clinton not face criminal charges over her handling of classified information.
While some classified details were identified on the laptop following the partial review of the emails, Comey advised Congress on Nov. 6 that he stood by his decision regarding Clinton’s criminality.
Many of Clinton’s supporters blame Comey’s back-and-forth with Congress as one of the reasons President Trump won the White House two days later.
Weiner was eventually sentenced in September 2017 to 21 months in federal prison for sending sexually-charged messages to a minor.
Judicial Watch’s suit is also seeking all documents in DOJ’s possession about the search of Weiner’s device, as well as any communications between FBI officials concerning Clinton’s knowledge of Weiner’s illicit activities.
