Skip to content

Judicial Watch, Inc. is a conservative, non-partisan educational foundation, which promotes transparency, accountability and integrity in government, politics and the law.

Judicial Watch, Inc. is a conservative, non-partisan educational foundation, which promotes transparency, accountability and integrity in government, politics and the law.

Because no one
is above the law!

Donate

Judicial Watch

Press Releases

Judicial Watch Statement on Court Ruling on Clinton Email Issue

District Court Rules that State Department Must Make Public FBI Declaration on Clinton Email Retrieval Efforts

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton made the following statement regarding today’s ruling by United States District Judge James E. Boasberg that the Department of State must make public a FBI declaration detailing its efforts to retrieve Hillary Clinton’s government emails (Judicial Watch, Inc. v. Rex Tillerson (No. 1:15-cv-00785)):

We’re happy with the ruling but it is unbelievable we’re being opposed by Trump appointees in the State and Justice Department’s on the Clinton email issue.  President Trump ought to be outraged his appointees are protecting Hillary Clinton. The State Department should initiate action with the Justice Department – and both agencies should finally take the necessary steps to recover all the government emails Hillary Clinton unlawfully removed.

In May 2015, Judicial Watch sued former Secretary John Kerry after the State Department failed to take action on a letter sent to Kerry “notifying him of the unlawful removal of the Clinton emails and requesting that he initiate enforcement action pursuant to the [Federal Records Act],” including working through the Attorney General to recover the emails. After initially being dismissed by the district court, Judicial Watch’s lawsuit was revived on appeal by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on December 27, 2016. The Federal Records Act states that an agency head “shall” initiate an action through the Attorney General when he becomes aware of any unlawful removal of agency records.

While at the State Department, Clinton conducted official government business using an unsecure email server and email accounts. Her top aides and advisors also used non-“state.gov” email accounts to conduct official business. Clinton left office February 1, 2013.

The Trump administration in defending its handling of the email matter by the Obama administration filed two declarations from the FBI trying to justify the State Department’s refusal to follow the law and refer to the Clinton email issue to the Justice Department.  As the decision notes, the second FBI declaration is non-public and was filed in camera and ex parte with the court.  Judge Boasburg today rejected the State Department’s arguments that the FBI declaration be withheld to protect grand jury secrecy:

After reviewing the document in camera, the Court concludes it largely rehashes information already made public, thus obviating any need for secrecy.

###

Related

New Details Emerge in Viral Squirrel’s Seizure and Death

In The News | April 23, 2025
From WIBX: According to Judicial Watch, the newly released documents confirm what many had feared: euthanasia was discussed and prepped for before the seizure ever even took place....

Judicial Watch Files FOIA for Info on ICE Plan to Find Illegal Immigrant Minors…

Corruption Chronicles | April 23, 2025
The Biden administration failed to monitor hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrant minors who entered the United States through Mexico and tens of thousands simply vanished from...

NY planned to decapitate ‘Peanut’ even before the ‘squirrel raid’

In The News | April 22, 2025
From Washington Examiner: It took at least 12 New York animal cops in a four-hour “squirrel raid” to find and seize a pet squirrel and raccoon from an amateur sanctuary in a case t...