Paul Elliott worked at Bill Clinton’s Treasury Department. Later he worked for Mayor Bloomberg in New York, and then served as deputy national director of Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign. Then he became a lobbyist for TransCanada Pipelines.

Now Secretary Clinton is granting regulatory approval to a pipeline across Canada. It seems relevant what contact Elliott might have had with his old boss. Natural Resources Defense Council used FOIA to request all communications between the two. The State Department has said no — on flimsy grounds.