The Republican National Committee filed a public records request on Friday for information about Hillary Clinton’s chief of staff’s simultaneous work at the State Department and in the private sector, including details on why this work arrangement was not previously disclosed by the agency.
The request follows a Washington Free Beacon report on Wednesday that Mills continued to work as general counsel for New York University, at the William J. Clinton Foundation, and on the board of the school’s UAE-funded Abu Dhabi campus during her first four months as Clinton’s chief of staff.
Mills was granted "special government employee" status by the State Department at the time, allowing her to work for private entities, the agency told the Free Beacon last week. However, the State Department did not disclose that Mills’ was a special government employee on a list of 2009 SGEs it released last year in response to a Freedom of Information Act request from ProPublica.
The RNC filed its own FOIA request, it was reported on Friday, asking for documents related to Mills’ special government employee status and why this information was omitted from the list received by ProPublica.
The RNC requested "all records, correspondence, and memos, in any and all formats, that mention, reference or relate to the selection, approval, status, and/or classification of Cheryl Mills as a special Government employee" in both 2009 and 2013.
It also asked for "any records that may exist about ProPublica’s FOIA and why Cheryl Mills’ 2009 special Government status was excluded from the State Department’s FOIA response."
A State Department spokesperson declined to comment when the Free Beacon asked why Mills was not included on the 2009 list.
Mills was granted SGE status at the State Department for her first four months at the agency in 2009. During this time, she continued to serve as general counsel at New York University and on the board of NYU’s Abu Dhabi campus, which is funded by the UAE government.
While Mills was not paid directly for her work on the Abu Dhabi board, she earned $198,000 for her work at NYU.
The State Department initially told the Free Beacon that Mills did not start working as Clinton’s chief of staff until May 24, 2009. But internal State Department documents showed that Mills was identified as Clinton’s chief of staff months earlier, in diplomatic cables published by WikiLeaks and memos obtained through FOIA requests.
The State Department later said Mills was considered a special government employee between Jan. 22 and May 24, 2009.