Hillary Clinton was sued Monday by the parents of two Americans killed in the 2012 terrorist attacks on the diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya.
Patricia Smith and Charles Woods alleged in the wrongful death lawsuit that Clinton’s "‘extreme carelessness’ in handling confidential and classified information" during her time as secretary of state led to the deaths of their sons, Sean Smith and Tyrone Woods.
They also accused Clinton of making defamatory public statements, including comments connecting the motive of the attacks to an anti-Muslim YouTube video, although it turned out no connection existed.
Conservative advocacy group Freedom Watch filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on behalf of Smith and Woods. The parents faulted Clinton’s use of a private email server during her time as secretary of state for "directly and proximately" causing the fatal attacks on four Americans.
The lawsuit said it was "highly probable" that Clinton transmitted information about U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens, who was also killed in the assault, across her unsecured email system, though no clear connection has been found.
Smith, a Donald Trump supporter, excoriated Clinton on-stage at the Republican National Convention last month.
"For all of this loss, for all of this grief, for all of the cynicism the tragedy in Benghazi has wrought upon America, I blame Hillary Clinton. I blame Hillary Clinton personally for the death of my son," she said.
Nick Merrill, a Clinton campaign spokesman, responded to the lawsuit in a statement that none of the nine investigations into the Democratic nominee’s handling of the attack uncovered any misconduct on her part.
"While no one can imagine the pain of the families of the brave Americans we lost at Benghazi, there have been nine different investigations into this attack and none found any evidence whatsoever of any wrongdoing on the part of Hillary Clinton," Merrill said.