On Tuesday, a second federal judge ruled that a legal conservative group may access the records of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, particularly her private email account that was integrated into the State Department recordkeeping system.
According to Free Beacon, US District Court Judge Royce Lamberth issued the ruling in response to a lawsuit that was filed in 2014 by the Judicial Watch - a conservative watchdog group. The Judicial Watch has sued the State Department for documents related to the Benghazi attack. The ruling gives new credibility claims that the State officials intentionally eluded public record laws.
While issuing the decision, Judge Lamberth cited "evidence of government wrongdoing." The justice added that the limited discovery is appropriate, although it is exceedingly rare in Freedom of Information Act Request or FOIA. Moreover, Judge Lamberth said in a statement that the plaintiff is relying on constantly shifting admissions by the government and the previous government officials.
The Washington Post reported this decision came about weeks after another Washington-based federal judgeEmmet G. Sullivan ruled that the former and current State Department and Clinton aides could be questioned under oath about her email arrangement in a separate Judicial Watch FOIA suit.
The FOIA case which is directed against the State Department is largely separate from the ongoing FBI probe into the presence of classified information on Clinton's email account, reports Politico. Clinton and her aides are expected to be cross-examined in that investigation in the coming weeks.
Meanwhile, a spokeswoman for the Justice Department made no comment on the Lamberth's ruling, but the State Department official told reporters that her agency is already aware of the order and is currently reviewing it. Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, commended the ruling of the judge as a step toward to reducing the mysteries surrounding Hilary Clinton's private email server.
