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Judge Orders State Department to Release Clinton Aide’s Emails With Foundation

Citizens United: ‘A big win for transparency’

AP
October 6, 2015

A federal judge told the Department of State on Tuesday to release correspondence between a top aide to Hillary Clinton and Clinton Foundation officials on a rolling basis over the next two weeks.

Citizens United, a film production group, has been suing the State Department to turn over official emails between Cheryl Mills, Clinton’s chief of staff, and individuals associated with the Clinton Foundation.

An attorney for the State Department said officials have found 326 documents potentially related to the public records request, during a hearing at the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday. The State Department said it would turn them over to Citizens United in two batches, beginning next Friday and ending on Oct. 20.

The State Department had previously asked for an extension until Dec. 6 to hand over the records, but Judge Emmet Sullivan declined to grant it last month.

Citizens United called the timetable a "big win for transparency."

"The public has a right to inspect these important documents in a timely manner and that’s what today’s ruling provides," said David Bossie, Citizens United’s president. "If it weren’t for our [Freedom of Information Act requests] and subsequent lawsuits these records would remain exactly where Hillary Clinton wants them—in the shadows."

The group is asking for correspondence that was sent between June 1, 2012 and February 28, 2013. In 2013, Mills was designated a "Special Government Employee," which allowed her to hold outside positions and to avoid certain ethics restrictions.

In addition to the Clinton Foundation emails, Citizens United has also requested correspondence from Clinton aides related to the 2012 Benghazi attack and their work for outside companies while at the State Department.