RNC SUES FOR EMAILS OF HILLARY CLINTON'S AIDES

RNC SUES FOR EMAILS OF HILLARY CLINTON'S STATE DEPARTMENT AIDES

  “Clinton’s actions while Secretary of State — and the actions of those senior officials with whom she worked most closely and supervised — are manifestly relevant to whether she is fit to lead this country,” the RNC wrote in its complaint.

By Nolan D. McCaskill

03/09/16 10:31 AM EST

Updated 03/09/16 03:47 PM EST

The Republican National Committee on Wednesday filed two lawsuits in federal court seeking records and emails of Hillary Clinton and her colleagues at the State Department.

The first suit seeks electronic records sent to and from Clinton via text or Blackberry Messenger and emails to senior aides.

The second suit seeks communications between senior State Department officials, Clinton’s presidential campaign and other Clinton allies after her time at State.

“The Obama Administration has failed to comply with records requests in a timely manner as required by law,” RNC Chairman Reince Priebus said in a statement. “For too long the State Department has undermined the public and the media’s legitimate right to records under the Freedom of Information Act, and it’s time it complies with the law.

If this administration claims to be the ‘most transparent in history,’ and Clinton the ‘most transparent person in public life,’ then they should prove it, release these records, and allow the American people to hold her accountable."

Dozens of lawsuits have been filed regarding Clinton’s email scandal stemming from her four years as secretary of state, including a Citizens United suit that was filed earlier this week.

The State Department has finished posting its trove of Clinton emails that were ordered to be publicly released, but other messages are still rolling out as part of other lawsuits.

Clinton also must contend with an FBI investigation into her unusual email setup, in which she exclusively used a homebrew server and private email account during her tenure at the State Department.

The Clinton campaign dismissed the latest lawsuits as another effort by Republicans to damage her campaign.

“This frivolous lawsuit is just another attempt by Republicans and right-wing groups to try to hurt Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign because she is the candidate they fear the most in a general election,” Clinton press secretary Brian Fallon said in a statement.  “It is not going to work."

Priebus contended that litigation was the organization’s last resort and added that news outlets such as the Associated Press, Gawker and Vice, for example, have sought public records from State to no avail.

“This is something that’s epidemic at the State Department. It’s not just the RNC,” Priebus told CNN.

“It’s everywhere, and they’re not complying with anything. Nobody’s getting any information whatsoever.”

http://www.politico.com/blogs/2016-gop-primary-live-updates-and-results/2016/03/rnc-hillary-clinton-email-lawsuit-220493