E&E News: Interior gets high marks for FOIA responses — report

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The Interior Department received a high grade for its responsiveness to the Freedom of Information Act in a study released today by a government watchdog group.

 

The report card by conservative-leaning Cause of Action gave Interior an A when it came to replying to FOIA requests. The study looked at average FOIA response times in fiscal 2014 for the 15 Cabinet departments. Those figures were taken from the agencies’ annual FOIA reports.

 

Others in the government didn’t fare as well on the report card. The Department of Energy earned a D, as did the State Department, which has come under scrutiny for its handling of public records after former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was found to have been using a private email account. Eleven agencies received a C or worse from the group.

 

The Inquisitr: Hillary Clinton Unsecured Email Scandal – A Lot Of Hot Air Over Nothing

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Giving her first press conference in over two years, Hillary Clinton faced the cameras yesterday, denying any illegality in her actions concerning use of a private, unsecured email account for business purposes.

 

Journalists are hungry for the truth, as is America, following Mrs Clinton’s refusal to hand over the server employed while using the email address hrd22@clintonemail.com, the Daily Mail reports. Originally run out of the Clintons’ home in Chappaqua, New York, this was the sole email address Clinton used while in the Obama administration. The Republicans are calling for a thorough investigation into the matter, fearing a breach of security, and no doubt in an effort to mar favor for Hillary in the run up to announcing her run for the 2017 presidency next month…

 

Dan Epstein, Executive Director of the conservative watchdog group, Cause of Action, remains adamant that a “full investigation” be carried out.

 

“It belies the spirit of openness and transparency in government. It keeps the public in the dark, and it raises serious national security concerns.”

 

Law360: LabMD Rips 11th Circ. For Refusing FTC Data Security Suit

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The Eleventh Circuit’s refusal to weigh in on a complaint from the Federal Trade Commission accusing LabMD Inc. of failing to safeguard patient information unlawfully shifts the balance of power between agencies and courts, the company recently said in a request for an en banc rehearing…

 

Reed Rubinstein, an attorney for LabMD and senior vice president of litigation at nonprofit Cause of Action, told Law360 on Wednesday that his client shouldn’t have to wait for the FTC proceeding to play out when there’s no doubt about its outcome.

 

“If the process is going to result in an outcome that is, for all intents and purposes, predetermined, what is the justification for requiring a person or a company to have to go through that process in order to obtain judicial review?” Rubinstein asked.

Politico: EMAIL SAGA CONTINUES

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Cause of Action, the right-leaning government watchdog group, has filed three new FOIA requests with the State Department to recover some of Hillary Clinton’s State Department emails. The first, delivered to the department’s IG, seeks “documents relating to any review, audit or investigation, whether merely considered, ongoing or completed, concerning Secretary’s Clinton’s compliance with electronic recordkeeping requirements and use of personal devices for agency business,” as well as any emails she might have sent to the White House — correspondence the group contends would prove high-level officials knew Clinton was using a personal email account. The other FOIAs take aim at whether Clinton received any records management training or waivers from federal rules. The FOIAs: http://bit.ly/1EObZ8y

Headlines & Global News: Clinton Maintains Innocence In Email Scandal While Others Question If She Could Be Prosecuted

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Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Tuesday defended her use of a private email address during her tenure as the U.S.’s top diplomat, saying that it was more convenient to use one device for both her government work and personal life, though she admitted she would have done things different in retrospect.

 

“Looking back it would have been better to use separate phones and two separate e-mail accounts,” Clinton said following a keynote address at a Women’s Empowerment Principles event at the United Nations in New York. “I thought using one device would be simpler; obviously, it hasn’t worked out that way.”…

 

“The only reason to use a private email system for official government communication is to keep information from becoming public and covering your tracks,” Cause of Action Executive Director Dan Epstein said in an email to reporters, according to The Daily Caller. “Sec. Clinton should have known that what she was doing violated the letter and spirit of the law. This isn’t a matter of poor judgment; this is a deliberate and orchestrated violation of the public trust that raises serious legal and ethical concerns.”

National Review: Hillary’s System Probably Let Obama’s E-Mails Get Hacked. Probably.

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Meanwhile, the government accountability group Cause of Action made three new FOIA requests regarding HRC’s email use. One is being sent to the State Department’s Inspector General, asking for all documents relating to any review, audit or investigation, whether merely considered, ongoing or completed, concerning Secretary’s Clinton’s compliance with electronic recordkeeping requirements and use of personal devices for agency business. The group is also asking for “All documents, including but not limited to electronic communications, including any person at the White House, the U.S. Department of State, the Clinton Family Foundation, and the Clinton Foundation, referring or relating to any document in the request above.” A spokesman for Cause of Action writes, “It’s clear that the White House, including President Obama, knew Secretary Clinton was using a non-government email address. The key question we’re asking is, did the White House ever do anything about it?”

 

FOIA Requests Re: Hillary Clinton Emails

See FOIA requests sent by Cause of Action to the National Archives and Records Administration, U.S. Department of State Office of Inspector General, and U.S. Department of State below: