Judicial Watch Sues Justice Department for FBI Records on Hillary Clinton’s Brother, Tony Rodham

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today it filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Justice for FBI records on Hillary Clinton’s deceased brother, Tony Rodham (Judicial Watch v U.S. Department of Justice (No.1:25-cv-04237)).

Judicial Watch sued in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia after the Justice Department failed to respond adequately to a June 10, 2019, FOIA request for FBI records about Rodham. Judicial Watch is asking for:

All records related to Anthony Dean Rodham, born in August 1954 in Park Ridge, Illinois, who died on June 7, 2019, including but not limited to: investigative reports; 302s; witness statements; Confidential Human Source reporting (FD 1023 forms); meetings/contacts (FD 209a forms); cables; letterhead memoranda; and communications sent to and from FBI officials regarding Mr. Rodham.

In August 2019, the FBI acknowledged it had located over 13,000 pages of records responsive to the request, as well as audio and video files that are potentially responsive to the request. After years of delays, in May 2025, the FBI again acknowledged possession of responsive records and asked if there was still interest. Judicial Watch acknowledged its continued interest in having the request processed without modification of its scope. Having received no further response from the FBI, Judicial Watch filed suit.

 Rodham for decades used his connections with the Clintons to further his failing career. Rodham described himself as a “facilitator” and had a range of opportunities, like addressing Chinese investor conferences and joining an advisory board of a company seeking permission to mine for gold in Haiti. Among other controversies, Rodham also pursued contracts in post-earthquake Haiti, seeking a $22 million housing deal while Bill Clinton co-chaired the recovery commission, a proposal that collapsed.

While Hillary Clinton was secretary of State, former Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe and Rodham were beneficiaries of the EB-5 cash-for-visas program, in which they raised at least $46 million from investors for their GreenTech Automotive electric-car company. Greentech filed for bankruptcyin February 2018.

“What’s currently in the public record about the schemes of Hillary Clinton’s little brother Tony likely just scratches the surface,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “Clearly, the Justice Department has been sitting on a wealth of information.”

Through its FOIA investigations and lawsuits Judicial Watch uncovered incidents involving Rodham.

In August 2017, Judicial Watch uncovered records from the State Department revealing repeated use of unsecured communications for classified information and numerous examples of Clinton Foundation donors receiving special favors from former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s staff. The emails also reveal instances of Rodham seeking to leverage his influence as Clinton’s brother. In January 2010, Confidential Assistant Monica Hanley forwarded to Abedin a request from Rodham, on three issues. One involved help on a “green card renewal,” another involved a visit by someone of which Abedin said they “wanted to regret,” and a third involved a job for someone whose CV Rodham forwarded to State.

In July 2017, Judicial Watch received records from the State Department revealing incidents of Huma Abedin, deputy chief of staff to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, providing special State Department treatment to major donors to the Clinton Foundation and political campaigns. The heavily redacted documents from Abedin’s non-government account included an email from Rodham to Abedin revealing that he acted as a go-between for a Clinton Foundation donor, Richard Park. The records also revealed Clinton Foundation executive Doug Band instructing Abedin to “show love” to Clinton donor Andrew Liveris.

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