WASHINGTON, DC--(Marketwired - July 14, 2016) - Judicial Watch today announced it submitted reply briefs (available here and here) to the court in response to the State Department's and Secretary Clinton's oppositions to Judicial Watch's request for permission to depose former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the Director of Office of Correspondence and Records of the Executive Secretariat ("S/ES-CRM") Clarence Finney; and the former Director of Information Resource Management of the Executive Secretariat ("S/ES-IRM") John Bentel. Today's filings arise in a Judicial Watch Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit before U.S. District Court Judge Emmet G. Sullivan that seeks records about the controversial employment status of Huma Abedin, former Deputy Chief of Staff to Clinton. The lawsuit was reopened because of revelations about the clintonemail.com system. (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of State (No. 1:13-cv-01363)).
In its replies Judicial Watch argues, among other things, that:
Secretary Clinton's deposition is necessary to complete the record. Although certain information has become available through investigations by the Benghazi Select Committee, the FBI, and the State Department Inspector General, as well as through Plaintiff's narrowly tailored discovery to date, significant gaps in the evidence remain. Only Secretary Clinton can fill these gaps, and she does not argue otherwise.
To [Judicial Watch's] knowledge, Secretary Clinton has never testified under oath why she created and used the clintonemail.com system to conduct official government business. Her only public statements on the issue are unsworn.
Very soon after making its filings, Judicial Watch received notice that the court ordered Clinton and the State Department to file responses to Judicial Watch's reply briefs no later than Friday at 12 noon. The court specified that they "shall not repeat any argument made previously."
District Court Judge Emmet G. Sullivan will hear arguments in this case on Monday:
Date: Monday, July 18, 2016
Time: 10:00 am ET
Location: Courtroom 24 A - 4th Floor
U.S. District Court District of Columbia
333 Constitution Ave NW
Washington, DC