GOP Suing for Hillary Clinton's Text Messages
The RNC said it has filed two FOIA lawsuits.
— -- The Republican National Committee announced today it is suing the State Department for access to more of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s records and those of her top aides.
The RNC said it has filed two separate Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuits in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., in an effort to compel the State Department to respond to records requests the RNC made last October and December.
The RNC said it wants access to Clinton's Blackberry text messages and Blackberry Messenger communications. It is also seeking all emails from a number of her top aides, including former Chief of Staff Cheryl Mills, former policy director Jake Sullivan, Under-secretary for Managements Patrick Kennedy, and former IT staffer Bryan Pagliano.
The second lawsuit is seeking to expose any communication between senior officials at the State Department and Clinton’s campaign after she left office, according to the RNC. Specifically, the RNC said it is looking to see if there was any collusion between the two regarding over Clinton’s private email server scandal, which has been hanging over her presidential campaign for the last year.
Just ten days ago, the State Department published the last of over 52,000 emails Clinton handed over, a staggered process that also resulted from FOIA litigation.
Under a separate court order the State Department is also releasing email from other top aides to Clinton, Huma Abedin and Philippe Reines.
This new RNC lawsuit marks the first time anyone has sought her text messages. It’s not clear if any still exist.
State Department spokesman John Kirby declined comment directly about the matter, citing the pending litigation. But he did says that State Department employees have the individual responsibility to maintain all official communication, which could include text messages.
Clinton's campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
