A federal judge has intervened, reopening an open-records case surrounding Hillary Clinton and the emails she kept on a private server during her time as Secretary of State. President of Judicial Watch, Tom Fitton, noted the importance of the federal judge stepping in, saying “this is the first case that’s been reopened. It’s a significant development. It points to the fraud by this administration and Mrs. Clinton”. Washington Times,
“Judge Reggie B Walton agreed Friday to a joint request by the State Department and Judicial Watch, which sued in 2012 to get a look at some of Mrs. Clinton’s documents” to return to an investigation into Clinton’s emails.
His reopening of the case is with the intention “that the agency should search [all of the emails] to see whether any should have been released to Judicial Watch… [as they have] filed a series of open-records requests seeking State Department emails”. Previously turned away by the State Department as they pursued their request, it seems as if Judge Walton is finally granting Judicial Watch access to the emails they have been asking for.
“The State Department said it doesn’t comment on open-records lawsuits. Publicly, the department has struggled to handle the inquiries over Mrs. Clinton’s emails. Officials didn’t acknowledge that there were missing emails until prodded by the House committee investigating the 2012 terrorist attack on the U.S. diplomatic post in Benghazi, Libya”.
Clinton has refused to cooperate in investigations with Benghazi chairman Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC), refusing “to turn the server over to a neutral third party”. In a report, Gowdy noted the difficulty his committee is having with their investigation due to the lack of information. “The State Department has told the committee that it cannot certify that it has turned over all documents responsive to the committee’s request regarding the former secretary’s emails.”
Gowdy also commented on the lack of assistance from the administration as they refuse to subpoena the emails, “neutering much of Congress’s investigative power”. He wrote “the legislative branch’s constitutional toolbox seems inadequate to uphold our task in seeking the truth.”
This unwillingness from the legislative branches of our government to help in conjunction with Clinton’s refusal to cooperate is why the decision by a federal judge to reopen the case is so critical. “Congress’s hands are tied and the Justice Department hasn’t committed to conduct an investigation of another part of the Obama administration.”
Speaking for Judicial Watch, Fitton asserted “it’s going to be independent actions by JW at this point. This is how anything is going to break loose.”
