Washington D.C. – The Honorable James Boasberg, a federal judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, today ordered the government to produce an unredacted declaration filed in secret early this summer containing new, undisclosed details about the scope of the FBI’s investigation into Hillary Clinton’s email practices as Secretary of State.
The government had previously disclosed the evidence to the court ex parte and in camera, meaning only the judge was able to review it, but characterized the declaration as including, “additional details about the grand jury process . . . as well as about other sealed proceedings” and was submitted to provide “further details of the subpoenas to establish to the Court’s satisfaction the thoroughness of the inquiries made in this regard.”
Cause of Action Institute filed a motion in June to produce the declaration and the judge today granted that request.
Cause of Action Institute President and CEO John J. Vecchione: “I applaud the court’s opinion. The government attempted to end a case with evidence no one could review. This order makes public details submitted by the government about the FBI’s efforts to recover then-Secretary Clinton’s unlawfully removed emails. Americans deserve to know the full scope of that investigation, and we, as Plaintiffs, should have an opportunity to contest the relevance of the government’s facts.”
In his order, Judge Boasberg writes:
“The 2016 presidential election may have come and gone, but Plaintiffs Judicial Watch and Cause of Action Institute’s quest for Hillary Clinton’s emails lives on. As most readers will remember, Clinton used private email accounts during her tenure as Secretary of State, embroiling the government in myriad Freedom of Information Act suits. In this case, however, Plaintiffs have taken a different tack, alleging a violation of the Federal Records Act. That is, they claim Defendants State Department and the National Archives and Records Administration failed to maintain records of Clinton’s emails and must now seek the Department of Justice’s Case assistance in their recovery. Most broadly characterized, Plaintiffs’ suit pertains to tens of thousands of communications. At this stage, however, the parties have largely zeroed in on a sliver of that trove — to wit, emails sent by Clinton on two Blackberry accounts during her first weeks in office.
“The present controversy is narrower still. To establish its good-faith recovery efforts, the Government has submitted a declaration describing grand-jury subpoenas issued to Clinton’s service providers. The catch? It offers the full version for in camera and ex parte review only. Plaintiffs have responded with a Motion to Produce, arguing that to the extent this Court might rely on the declaration, they must have unfiltered access. After reviewing the document in camera, the Court concludes that it largely rehashes information already made public, thus obviating any need for secrecy. The Court will therefore grant Plaintiffs’ Motion in large part and, subject to a very limited exception, order that Defendants resubmit an unredacted version of the declaration.”
Judge Boasberg’s full order is available here.
The Plaintiffs’ motion to produce the declaration is available here.
For information regarding this press release, please contact Zachary Kurz, Director of Communications: zachary.kurz@causeofaction.org
