Federal Judge Orders Gradual Release of Hillary Clinton Emails

A federal judge has ordered the State Department to begin releasing former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s emails in monthly installments, rejecting the department’s request to wait until January 2016 to make the documents public.

U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras ruled Tuesday that rolling disclosure was in the public interest, siding with Vice News reporter Jason Leopold’s Freedom of Information Act lawsuit. The decision requires the department to post portions of Clinton’s roughly 55,000 pages of emails every 30 days, starting at the end of June.

To date, Clinton has relinquished 55,000 pages of e-mails to the State Department and, last week, the department posted 850 e-mails affiliated with the Benghazi inquiry — the first official release since the controversy erupted over her use of a private server. The State Department said it is still reviewing the remainder for classified material and personal correspondence.

In court filings, government attorneys cited the “voluminous” volume of documents and necessary security reviews, but the judge dismissed the rationale as insufficient to delay public disclosure until after the 2016 presidential primaries. Contreras emphasized that “prompt transparency” was central to restoring public trust in government recordkeeping.

The case originated from a 2014 request by Leopold seeking correspondence between Clinton and senior aides, including Cheryl Mills, Huma Abedin, and Jake Sullivan. The emails became a political flashpoint after it was revealed Clinton conducted official business exclusively through a personal account hosted on a private server at her New York home.

Clinton has said she turned over all work-related emails to the State Department and deleted roughly 30,000 personal messages. The FBI has not indicated whether it will pursue further inquiry into the server’s handling of classified material.

While the State Department maintains it is acting “in good faith,” watchdog groups contend that Clinton’s exclusive use of private email created a precedent that could undermine the Freedom of Information Act. Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton called the ruling “a major victory for transparency and the rule of law.”

In Washington, victories for transparency tend to arrive one heavily redacted page at a time.

Citations

Reuters – “U.S. Judge Orders Monthly Release of Hillary Clinton Emails” (May 27, 2015)

Politico – “Judge Orders State Department to Release Clinton Emails in Batches” (May 27, 2015)

Washington Post – “Federal Judge Sets Schedule for Clinton Email Releases” (May 27, 2015)

CNN – “Judge Orders Clinton Emails Released in Batches” (May 27, 2015)