Washington, DC – Cause of Action Institute (CoA Institute) today filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to force the State Department to release ethics records for former Secretary of State Clinton and her staff.
Recently released emails demonstrate that Clinton Foundation donors may have received special access to Secretary Clinton. Those emails raise questions about whether she and members of her staff adequately addressed potential conflicts of interest. These records will help the public understand whether Secretary Clinton complied with the ethics agreement she signed before becoming Secretary, as well as how the State Department’s ethics office advised her and her staff regarding conflicts of interest.
CoA Institute submitted a FOIA request on August 24, 2016, but the State Department failed to produce any records responsive to the request well past the applicable time limits. In addition, the State Department Inspector General found that 47 percent of presidentially-appointed State Department officials failed to complete their mandatory ethics training during Secretary Clinton’s last full year in office.
Cause of Action Institute Vice President John Vecchione: “It appears that State Department officials during Secretary Clinton’s tenure did not take their ethics responsibilities seriously. Americans have a right to know whether Secretary Clinton and her aides at the State Department flouted ethics requirements in order to grant special treatment to Clinton Foundation supporters.”
In January 2009, during Sec. Clinton’s confirmation, she signed an agreement stating: “If confirmed as Secretary of State, I will not participate personally and substantially in any particular matter that has a direct and predictable effect upon [the Clinton Foundation], unless I first obtain a written waiver or qualify for a regulatory exemption.”
In its lawsuit, CoA Institute demands copies of recusals and ethics agreements for Secretary Clinton and members of her staff, any ethics waivers or exemptions they may have obtained from the State Department ethics office, and ethics office communications concerning Secretary Clinton and the Clinton Foundation.
The full complaint can be found HERE
The exhibits are available HERE
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