State Department officials are attempting to push back a deadline they set for themselves in May for the release of records related to Hillary Clinton and two of her top aides.
In a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed by Citizens United, the State Department had pledged to produce by Sept. 13 all documents relevant to the conservative watchdog group’s four requests, which involved Clinton, Cheryl Mills and Huma Abedin.
But although the agency had chosen the Sept. 13 deadline for itself, State Department officials soon sought to delay indefinitely their obligation to hand over the records.
Judge Emmet Sullivan, the federal judge overseeing the case, cautioned the State Department in May against attempting to push back their own deadline.
“I’m not going to extend the time. All right? So, you know, the standard motions for extension, keep them — we used to say word processor, keep them in whatever now, the computer,” Sullivan told government attorneys during the May 12 hearing.
“These are firm dates and I think you can live with,” he added.
David Bossie, president of Citizens United, called the State Department’s request a “meritless delay tactic.”
“Judge Sullivan already warned them not to try this,” Bossie said.
The State Department has cited the enormous burden Clinton’s private emails have placed on agency resources in a number of FOIA lawsuits in which officials have attempted to push back on court-ordered deadlines.
