WASHINGTON, D.C. — Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus is demanding the release of all communications between Hillary Clinton and the State Department between 2009 and 2013.
Hillary Clinton’s pay-for-play scandal is threatening to derail her campaign. Public outrage follows revelations that the Foundation took foreign cash during Clinton’s tenure as Secretary of State, that Clinton aide Huma Abedin was helping Foundation donors get favors and access from the State Department, and that Clinton aide Cheryl Mills was doing assignments for the Clinton Foundation while on the State Department payroll.
In a letter Monday to Foundation president Donna Shalala, Priebus demands transparency.
“I am writing to you to call on the Clinton Foundation and all of the entities under its umbrella to release all correspondence its officials had with the State Department during Hillary Clinton’s tenure as secretary of state,” Priebus added.
As I am sure you are well aware, a spate of recent news reports involving the Clinton Foundation’s relationship with the Clinton State Department has renewed serious concerns about conflicts of interest and whether donors to the foundation benefitted from official acts under then-Secretary Clinton.
“These reports come as the Federal Bureau of Investigation turned over nearly 15,000 work-related documents that were inappropriately withheld or deleted by Secretary Clinton’s lawyers. The discovery of these public records follows several other instances where work-related materials that should have been turned over were found not to be in the custody of the federal government,” Priebus added.
Priebus continued:
Additionally, the State Department announced late Friday it would not provide a full inventory of Secretary Clinton’s official schedules prior to the election after an Associated Press analysis revealed that more than half of the non-governmental meetings she held during the first two years of her tenure were with Clinton Foundation donors. Given Secretary Clinton’s exclusive use of an illicit private email server, we cannot even now be certain the entirety of her official public records are in the proper custody of the federal government.
Secretary Clinton has claimed to be “the most transparent public official in modern time.” Her campaign manager Robby Mook has said as much, calling Clinton “the most transparent secretary of state in history.”
The Clinton Foundation can play a vital role in filling important gaps in the public record by demonstrating its commitment to transparency and making public all correspondence its officials had with the State Department during Secretary Clinton’s tenure. This should be done by an independent, neutral third party so the public can have confidence in the findings.
In defending her interactions, Secretary Clinton has maintained that while “there’s a lot of smoke…there’s no fire,” or evidence of Clinton Foundation donors receiving special treatment. Because we know that federal records are incomplete through Mrs. Clinton’s failure to comply with federal records retention policies, the records in the foundation’s custody have the unique ability to buttress or undercut her assertions on this matter.
The American people have the right to see a full picture of Secretary Clinton’s record, which she claims to be proud of, before they go to the polls to choose their next president.
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