Federal Judge Scratches the Surface with Hillary on "Adequate Search of Public Records"

[KoKo]

A federal judge says he may order Democratic Presidential front runner Hillary Clinton to testify under oath

By MICHAEL BIESECKER, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge said Wednesday he may order Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton to testify under oath about whether she used a private email server as secretary of state to evade public records disclosures.

U.S. District Court Judge Emmet G. Sullivan signed an order granting a request from the conservative legal advocacy group Judicial Watch to question six current and former State Department staffers about the creation and purpose of the private email system. Those on the list were some of Clinton's closest aides during her tenure as the nation's top diplomat, including former chief of staff Cheryl D. Mills, deputy chief of staff Huma Abedin and undersecretary Patrick F. Kennedy.

------snip

At issue is whether the State Department conducted an adequate search of public records in response to a Freedom of Information Act request filed by Judicial Watch in 2013 seeking records related to Abedin's outside work as a paid consultant for the Clintons' charitable foundation and a financial advisory firm with ties to the former first couple.

The department's initial search did not include the thousands of emails Clinton exchanged with her aides, including Abedin, using private email addresses. The department said it didn't have access to those emails at the time.

Questions asked during the depositions are to be limited to the circumstances surrounding the 2009 creation of Clinton's private email system, including why she chose not to use a government account.

Sullivan said ordering depositions is appropriate in legal cases where a federal agency "may have purposefully attempted to skirt disclosure under FOIA."

"In sum, the circumstances surrounding approval of Mrs. Clinton's use of clintonemail.com for official government business, as well as the manner in which it was operated, are issues that need to be explored" to evaluate the adequacy of the department's records search.

There have been at least three dozen civil lawsuits filed, including one by The Associated Press, over public records requests related to Clinton's time as secretary of state from 2009 to 2013.

The FBI also is investigating whether sensitive information that flowed through Clinton's email server was mishandled. The inspectors general at the State Department and for U.S. intelligence agencies are separately investigating whether rules or laws were broken.

Critics of Clinton's decision to rely on the private server have suggested that it potentially made her communications more vulnerable to being stolen by hackers, including those working for foreign intelligence agencies.

http://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2016-05-04/us-judge-clinton-may-be-ordered-to-testify-in-records-case

[Trust Buster]

1. Just what we need. Another Trump supporter.

[truedelphi]

2. Wah? Somebody is posting about a certain candidate's

Lack of transparency, their propensity for misconduct, their ability to game the system, and the poster is
to be considered a Trump supporter?

Of maybe the poster simply wants the Dem Part to have a victory in November. (BTW, one of Hill's delegates just got indicted for several rather nasty things.)

[Trust Buster]

3. You are indirectly helping Trump. I think you will regret it if Trump wins.

[truedelphi]

6. You are so-o very very 2012. Enough of quoting of the pre-selected, inner circle of

Party elites and their one liner memes.

It would be so refreshing to have some original thoughts once and a while.

And I am sorry if it upsets you but two things are obvious:

One: Yesterday Bernie Sanders won!

Two: Hillary doesn't have the ability to garner all the delegates needed. So it will be a "going to the convention" activity this summer for Bernie and us Bernie supporters

[NorthCarolina]

10. Don't you think your beef is with the Judge in this case?

Perhaps you should take the issue up with him/her directly and set the record straight.

[Trust Buster]

12. The judge isn't posting this on DU.

[NorthCarolina]

18. Not psting it may hide it from your view, but it doesn't negate the reality of

the situation. Not really sure what your beef is. It is NEWS of a pertinent nature.

[pat_k]

17. How is posting news about judge's ruling "helping Trump"?

US News and World Report may suck, but it's not Brietbart.

This is something that occurred. Sure, I think Judicial Watch's lawsuit is part of the Republican witch hunt, but it's not like Trump's oppo research people wouldn't find out about the judge's ruling if it weren't posted here.

It's never good when a lawsuit against you is deemed to have sufficient merit to pursue further. When the lawsuit is against the person who is the likely Democratic nominee for president, that's news.

[roguevalley]

31. the judge was appointed by bill

[KoKo]

32. Yes he was....

And more keeps coming out...we shall see how this goes going forward.

For now the PTB don't seem to want to disrupt Hillary's Path to the Nomination. Trump is in trouble on his Own Turf....and we Voters are kind of left scratching our heads....

[monmouth4]

19. This woman is a walking, talking mess with a lot of nerve to even run for office. Time for

her to get out.

[TM99]

7. You must be fucking scared of this

if all you can do to address the substance of the matter is throw out invectives and red herrings.

[Trust Buster]

9. Not scared. Just pointing out that this OP is destructive and not productive to Democrats.

[TM99]

11. I actually know that you are a Trump supporter.

Every thread you bring him up in now.

You are likely a Trump troll trying to keep the focus on him.

That is highly destructive and not productive for the left.

You might find it more positive to post at DI or the Cave or FR.

[Trust Buster]

14. Nope, look at my posts. I'm as pro-Hillary as they come. I just see Democratic civil war killing

our chances.

[TM99]

15. No, I don't trust you.

You are new, have low post count, and this is how it works.

Come in pretending to be for Clinton and then start revealing your true intention through posts that get people to discuss, question, and pay attention to Trump.

[Trust Buster]

16. I had a post alerted and hidden for pointing out a poster's post count. Let's see some equal

treatment here.

[TM99]

20. Hey knock yourself out

if you feel it is alertable.

You claim to be a Clinton supporter but all the posts I see these days are about Trump, Trump, Trump.

It does beg the question given the fact that the Democratic Primary is not over.

So I question your allegiances. After all, part of the game it to question Sanders supporters about Trump.

What is good for the goose is delicious for the gander. Enjoy!

[Trust Buster]

21. Even Lyin' Ted was smart enough to figure out when it was over.

[TM99]

23. Nice defletion

from the truth of why you are really here.

Bravo! You must have had great training.

[TimPlo]

27. Ha he even talks like Trump

Using Trumps nickname for Senator Cruz.

[frylock]

28. Weird.

[panader0]

13. Idiotic comment--Trump is not conducting the investigation.

Unless you mean that the FBI and DoJ are Trump supporters. And I very much doubt that.

[amborin]

4. she may testify, but:

was she testifying under oath at these hearings? I didn't pay attention at that point, so I don't know.

although the Obama White House believed Blumenthal had spread false rumors about Obama during the 2008 campaign, and although Obama had banned Blumenthal from any State Dept business, SOS Clinton kept up a steady and solicited correspondence with Blumenthal behind Obama's back:

And despite ample evidence on the public record for months that Clinton repeatedly asked Blumenthal to keep sending her updates on Libya and other matters, she repeated previous assertions that his advice was unsolicited.

"I did not ask him to send me the information that he sent me," Clinton said.

"You wrote to him, 'Another keeper, thanks' and 'Please keep them coming....Greetings from Kabul and thanks for keeping this stuff coming,'" Gowdy shot back.

Clinton then shifted slightly, conceding that she urged Blumenthal to keep up the flow. "They started out unsolicited and, as I said, some were of interest," she said.

snip

.....You said they were -- you said they were unsolicited," the chairman said.

While Clinton minimized the significance of what Blumenthal sent along, she did not dismiss it entirely, and she defended forwarding the information to aides who sometimes scrambled to respond to the unusual dispatches.

"Some of it I found interesting....

snip

....Allegations relating to Blumenthal's role in that campaign are what kept him from joining the State Department in 2009. Obama aides were convinced that Blumenthal spread false personal and policy rumors about Obama during the battle between Clinton and Obama for the Democratic nomination. While Clinton had more authority to name State Department personnel than any other Obama Cabinet member, Blumenthal was blacklisted--effectively banished by the White House.

When Gowdy asked about Blumenthal's rejection, Clinton didn't dispute it, but said she couldn't remember or didn't know who at the White House put the kibosh on her regular correspondent.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/10/hillary-clinton-sidney-blumenthal-emails-benghazi-hearings-215083#ixzz42cF2UM5y

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/10/hillary-clinton-sidney-blumenthal-emails-benghazi-hearings-215083#ixzz42cEb3aOA
Follow us: @politico on Twitter | Politico on Facebook



Hillary was taking State Dept Advice from Blumenthal and others with Business interests in Libya:

Plus, all the while, Blumenthal was working for the Clinton Foundation:

International New York Times May 20, 2015 Wednesday

Clinton friend's memos on Libya draw scrutiny to politics and business

NICHOLAS CONFESSORE and MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT
Clintons last occupied the White House, Sidney Blumenthal cast himself in varied roles:

speechwriter, in-house intellectual and press corps whisperer. …..Now, as Hillary Rodham Clinton embarks on her second presidential bid, Mr. Blumenthal's service to the Clintons is again under the spotlight. ……

….. a series of memos that Mr. Blumenthal - who was not an employee of the State Department - wrote to Mrs. Clinton about events unfolding in Libya before and after the death of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi.

According to emails obtained by The New York Times, Mrs. Clinton, who was secretary of state at the time, took Mr. Blumenthal's advice seriously, forwarding his memos to senior diplomatic officials in Libya and Washington and at times asking them to respond. Mrs. Clinton continued to pass around his memos even after other senior diplomats concluded that Mr. Blumenthal's assessments were often unreliable.

But an examination by The Times suggests that Mr. Blumenthal's involvement was more wide-ranging and more complicated than previously known, embodying the blurry lines between business, politics and philanthropy that have enriched and vexed the Clintons.

While advising Mrs. Clinton on Libya, Mr. Blumenthal, who had been barred from a State Department job by aides to President Obama, was also employed by her family's philanthropy, the Clinton Foundation, to help with research, ''message guidance'' and the planning of commemorative events, according to foundation officials. During the same period, he also worked for organizations that helped lay the groundwork for Mrs. Clinton's 2016 campaign.

Much of the Libya intelligence that Mr. Blumenthal passed on to Mrs. Clinton appears to have come from a group of business associates he was advising as they sought to win contracts from the Libyan transitional government.

The venture, which was ultimately unsuccessful, involved other Clinton friends, a private military contractor and one former C.I.A. spy seeking to get in on the ground floor of the new Libyan economy.

The projects …..would have required State Department permits, but foundered before the business partners could seek official approval.

The Libya venture came together in 2011 when David L. Grange, a retired Army general, joined with a new New York firm, Constellations Group, to pursue business leads in Libya. Constellations Group, led by a professional fund-raiser and philanthropist named Bill White, was to provide the leads……

[truedelphi]

8. GReat Post. Thank you! n/t

[KoKo]

22. Good links ...well worth the scan for those who aren't aware...

Particularly with Blumenthal...this was stuff that all of us should be concerned with...

Much of the Libya intelligence that Mr. Blumenthal passed on to Mrs. Clinton appears to have come from a group of business associates he was advising as they sought to win contracts from the Libyan transitional government.

And More...

[Uncle Joe]

5. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, KoKo.

[WhiteTara]

24. 21.5 million files were stolen from the government

about people who had had background checks for the government. Seems her server was much more protected than the official ones.

[Fairgo]

26. Whaaa?

I see english words...but I don't get it.

[KoKo]

25. "Latest Breaking News" on DU from Washington Post...UPDATE on Clinton FOIA Investigation

to DU'er "Land of Enchantment" who posted in Breaking News!

Deadlines loom for answers in Clinton email probe as U.S. judge sets discovery
Source: Washington Post

A federal judge on Wednesday directed State Department officials and top aides to Hillary Clinton to answer questions under oath by June 29 about whether they intentionally thwarted federal open-records laws by allowing Clinton’s use of a private email server throughout her tenure as secretary of state from 2009 to 2013.

The decision by U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan in Washington sets the stage for responses before July’s presidential nominating conventions — but does not ensure cooperation — from at least six current and former top officials, including Cheryl D. Mills, who was Clinton’s chief of staff at State; Huma Abedin, Mills’s deputy who now is vice chairman of Clinton’s Democratic presidential campaign; and Bryan Pagliano, a Clinton staff member during her 2008 presidential campaign who helped set up the private server.

While Sullivan did not permit questioning of Clinton herself for now, he wrote that the conservative legal watchdog group Judicial Watch may ask to do so later if it thinks “based on information learned during discovery, the deposition of Mrs. Clinton may be necessary.”

More at:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10141437709

[onenote]

29. What this lawsuit is and isn't about.

Here's how the court describes the matter before it: "This case presents a narrow legal question: did the United States Department of State ("State Department&quot , in good faith, conduct a search reasonably calculated to uncover all relevant documents in response to Plaintiff Judicial Watch's ("Judicial Watch&quot Freedom of Information Act ("FOIA&quot request? As the Court ruled during the February 23, 2016 hearing on Judicial Watch's Motion for Discovery under Rule 56(d), questions surrounding the creation, purpose and use of the clintonemail.com server must be explored through limited discovery before the Court can decide, as a matter of law, whether the Government has conducted an adequate search in response to Judicial Watch's FOIA request.

And here's what the court said about what the discovery it was ordering: Plaintiff is not entitled to discovery on matters unrelated to whether State conducted an adequate search in response to Plaintiff's FOIA request, including without limitation: the substantive information sought by Plaintiff in its FOIA request in this case, which involves the employment status of a single employee; the storage, handling, transmission, or protection of classified information, including cybersecurity issues; and any pending FBI or law enforcement investigations.

And here's what the court said about the possibility of Clinton being deposed:If Plaintiff believes Mrs. Clinton's testimony is required, it will request permission from the Court at the appropriate time.

(It should go without saying that whether or not the Court agrees Clinton's testimony is needed and whether it does or doesn't give its permission are matters that have not been determined and may never have to be determined).

[KoKo]

33. ......!

Good reminder....

[4139]

30. Will any of the 6 staffer plead the 5th?

There is that potential