Recent revelations lead one to wonder not so much whether Hillary Clinton can win the Democratic nomination for president, but whether she can stay on the right side of the law.
The New York Times recently published a comprehensive report detailing how Hillary Clinton’s State Department helped Russia corner America’s uranium market, as well as numerous other suspicious cases of pay-for-play involving the Clintons, their foundation, and millions upon millions of dollars. The public has learned the Clinton’s charitable organizations affiliated with the Clinton Foundation willfully declined to disclose thousands of foreign donations as Clinton promised they would do while she served as the country’s top diplomat. Finally, Judicial Watch released documents highlighting untoward Saudi influence and corruption in Hillary’s State Department.
Judicial Watch’s chief investigative reporter offers more reporting about yet another Clinton front:
Then there is Teneo Holdings, a global consulting firm with deep Clinton connections. Teneo serves as a kind of private-enterprise satellite to Clinton Inc. Doug Band, Mr. Clinton’s right-hand man for many years, is a Teneo founder. Huma Abedin, Mrs. Clinton’s right-hand woman for many years, was a senior advisor to Teneo at the same time she held a top position as part of Mrs. Clinton’s inner circle at the State Department. Bill Clinton was both a paid adviser to Teneo and a client. Secretary of State Clinton’s former Economic Envoy to Northern Ireland, Declan Kelly, is a Teneo co-founder and CEO.
The Wall Street Journal has published a major story about how American banks and other corporations are complaining about the Obama Justice Department’s strict interpretation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which prohibits bribes of foreign officials. A Justice Department that would ride herd on American companies engaged in alleged bribery of foreign officials has yet to move against Hillary Clinton over what is, at best, a suspicious pattern of donations followed by favorable government action. At worst, like corrupt businessmen, the Clintons have been using their influence to enrich themselves even at the expense of American interests.
Breitbart News Senior Editor-at-Large Peter Schweizer, whose new book has done so much to hold the Clinton machine accountable, made smart use of Judicial Watch-obtained documents in his soon-to-be released book, Clinton Cash, which describes how money was funneled through the Clinton Foundation by foreign governments while Hillary Clinton was serving as secretary of state.
Judicial Watch was central in getting the ball rolling on public exposure of this Clinton scandal:
Our dogged work forced the disclosure last year of documents that provided a road map for over 200 conflict-of-interest rulings that led to $48 million for the Clinton Foundation and other Clinton-connected entities during Hillary Clinton’s tenure as secretary of state. Previously disclosed documents in this lawsuit, for example, raise questions about funds Clinton accepted from entities linked to Saudi Arabia, China and Iran, among others. This is the story on these documents that got the ball rolling. The headline says it all: “State Department approved 215 Bill Clinton speeches, controversial consulting deal, worth $48m; Hillary Clinton’s Chief of Staff copied on all decisions.”
The Clinton email cover-up is still front and center for Judicial Watch, as there is “the dawning realization among media types that the Clinton Foundation, Teneo and the disappearing State Dept. emails really do signal that some sort of gigantic sleazy game is afoot.”
Now, Judicial Watch is pressing ahead with a new lawsuit to obtain the release of documents about Hillary Clinton’s “efforts” to gain approval for use of an iPhone or iPad to conduct official business while she was secretary of state. The lawsuit came after the State Department refused to respond to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request asking for:
Any and all records of requests by former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton or her staff to the State Department Office of Security Technology seeking approval for the use of an iPad or iPhone for official government business; and
Any all communications within or between the Office of the Secretary of State, the Executive Secretariat, and the Office of the Secretary and the Office of Security Technology concerning, regarding, or related to the use of unauthorized electronic devices for official government business.
On March 2, 2015, The New York Times reported then-Sec. Clinton used at least one non-“state.gov” email account to conduct official government business during her entire tenure as the secretary of state. It also was reported that Clinton stored these records on a non-U.S. government server at her home in Chappaqua, New York.
All told, there are about 18 lawsuits, 10 of which are active in federal court, as well as about 160 Judicial Watch FOIA requests, that could be affected by Mrs. Clinton and her staff’s use of secret email accounts to conduct official government business. Judicial Watch lawyers have informed attorneys for the Obama administration that Hillary Clinton’s account and any other secret accounts used by State employees should be secured, recovered, and searched. So far, Judicial Watch has filed more than 20 requests about the Clinton email scandal. This new lawsuit seeking iPhone and iPad documents is the first of several Judicial Watch plans to file over the next few weeks, as the State Department and other recalcitrant Obama agencies fail to comply with the federal transparency law.
Judicial Watch is pursuing information first reported in March:
Besides exclusively using a secret email account to conduct official government business, it’s likely that Hillary Clinton also used unauthorized electronic equipment—an iPad and an iPhone—as Secretary of State after being warned not to, a veteran State Department official told Judicial Watch this week.
On at least half a dozen occasions Clinton’s top aides asked the State Department’s Office of Security Technology to approve the use of an iPad and iPhone, according to JW’s inside source. Each time the request was rejected for security reasons, the source confirms. The only mobile device that meets the agency’s security standards is the BlackBerry, JW’s source said, adding that the Office of Security Technology—Bureau of Diplomatic Security’s Directorate of Countermeasures must approve all equipment such as cameras, phones and communication devices for all officials.
Evidently set on using the popular Apple devices, Clinton repeatedly challenged the ban and asked management in the Office of Security Technology to allow their use. The executive secretariat responsible for all communications and information technology always rejected the requests, JW’s source affirms. “From day one Hillary was trying to get the iPhone and the iPad approved,” the State Department official told JW. “She kept trying and trying to get us to approve the iPhone and the iPad, but we wouldn’t do it. Technology security experts tested the iPhone and the iPad several times because she constantly wanted them approved, but it never happened.”
The longtime State Department employee reveals that it’s common knowledge among government security tech experts that Apple devices don’t meet strict security standards so agency insiders were puzzled that the Secretary of State was hell-bent on using them. “There was a lot of head-scratching,” JW’s source revealed. Every State Department employee goes through a rigorous security training that includes strict warnings about using non approved equipment or personal email like Clinton did throughout her tenure as the president’s chief foreign affairs officer, the agency insider said.
Clinton’s persistent efforts to persuade the State Department’s technology security experts to approve the use of her favorite Apple devices led those in the division to conclude that she did in fact go through with it. “My guess is she did it and wanted approval after the fact,” JW’s source said. “But no waivers were ever issued.” JW reached out to the State Department for a comment on this latest potential scandal surrounding its former leader, but failed to get a response.
On March 31, 2015, The Associated Press also reported that Clinton, while secretary of state, had used an iPad to email members of her staff, contradicting her statements that she had used a secret email account so that she could “conveniently” conduct official business on one electronic device alone. None of Hillary Clinton’s email records have been produced to Judicial Watch, or disclosed to the courts as required by law. Reports of Clinton’s use of both a secret email server based at her residence and of an iPad to conduct government business have also raised concerns about the security of Clinton’s communications.
It is apparent that the Obama State Department would rather violate FOIA requirements than give the American people simple facts about Hillary Clinton’s communication practices.
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