The watchdog group Judicial Watch filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the State Department Thursday seeking paperwork on Hillary Clinton’s request to use an iPad or iPhone for official government business while serving as secretary of state.
Judicial Watch says it filed the lawsuit after the State Department failed to adequately respond to a March 10 request made under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) for "any and all records of requests by former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton or her staff to the State Department Office Security Technology seeking approval for the use of an iPad or iPhone for official government business."
The Associated Press reported in March that Clinton had used an iPad to email members of her State Department staff. Clinton had earlier said that she used a secret email account so she could conduct work on one electronic device instead of several.
Clinton’s email habits have been under the spotlight since the New York Times reported in March that she exclusively used a private email address during her tenure as secretary of state. The revelation alarmed transparency advocates, who say that Clinton may have skirted federal record law and State Department guidelines.
"The Obama State Department would rather violate federal transparency law than give the American people simple facts about Hillary Clinton’s iPad and iPhone," Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton said in press release. "The Obama State Department is engaged in a cover-up and this is the first of several new federal lawsuits that Judicial Watch will file to hold this administration and Mrs. Clinton to account for their apparent criminal violations of federal records laws and other laws."
The lawsuit is the latest of several that have been filed against the State Department after the revelations about Clinton’s use of private email.
According to Judicial Watch, "there are approximately 18 lawsuits, 10 of which are active in federal court, as well as about 160 Judicial Watch FOIA requests, that could be affected by Clinton’s use of a private email server."
Judicial Watch also said it expects to file several more lawsuits in the coming weeks.