{"id":30237,"date":"2019-01-17T17:47:49","date_gmt":"2019-01-17T21:47:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cosmicconvergence.org\/?p=30237"},"modified":"2019-01-17T17:47:49","modified_gmt":"2019-01-17T21:47:49","slug":"obama-admin-officials-ordered-by-judge-to-respond-to-email-benghazi-scandal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cosmicconvergence.org\/?p=30237","title":{"rendered":"Obama Admin Officials Ordered by Judge to Respond to Email &#038; Benghazi Scandal"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>Federal Judge Orders Rhodes, Rice, &amp; Other Obama Officials To Respond Over Clinton Benghazi\/Email Scandal<\/h1>\n<p><!--more-->ZeroHedge.com<\/p>\n<p>In what\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/press-room\/press-releases\/federal-court-orders-discovery-on-clinton-email-benghazi-scandal-top-obama-clinton-officials-susan-rice-and-ben-rhodes-to-respond-to-judicial-watch-questions-under-oath\/\">Judicial Watch describes<\/a>\u00a0as a\u00a0<strong><em>&#8220;major victory for accountability,&#8221;<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0a federal judge ruled Tuesday that former national security adviser\u00a0Susan Rice\u00a0and former deputy national security adviser\u00a0Ben Rhodes\u00a0<strong>must answer written questions about the State Department&#8217;s response to the deadly 2012 terror attack in Benghazi, Libya, as part of an ongoing legal battle over whether Hillary Clinton sought to deliberately evade public record laws<\/strong>\u00a0by using a private email server while\u00a0secretary of state.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.zerohedge.com\/s3\/files\/inline-images\/Rice-Clinton-Rhodes-.jpg?itok=E_MJAizU\" data-image-external-href=\"\" data-image-href=\"\/s3\/files\/inline-images\/Rice-Clinton-Rhodes-.jpg?itok=E_MJAizU\" data-link-option=\"0\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/zh-prod-1cc738ca-7d3b-4a72-b792-20bd8d8fa069.storage.googleapis.com\/s3fs-public\/inline-images\/Rice-Clinton-Rhodes-.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/zh-prod-1cc738ca-7d3b-4a72-b792-20bd8d8fa069.storage.googleapis.com\/s3fs-public\/styles\/inline_image_desktop\/public\/inline-images\/Rice-Clinton-Rhodes-.jpg?itok=E_MJAizU 1x\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" data-entity-type=\"file\" data-entity-uuid=\"e2c14b7e-f23d-464e-af32-f22835cffc70\" data-responsive-image-style=\"inline_images\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/judge-orders-susan-rice-ben-rhodes-to-answer-written-benghazi-questions-in-clinton-email-lawsuit\"><em>As Fox News&#8217; Samuel Chamberlain reports,\u00a0<\/em><\/a>the judge&#8217;s order amounts to approval of a discovery plan he ordered last month. In that ruling, Lamberth wrote that\u00a0<strong>Clinton&#8217;s use of a private email account was &#8220;one of the gravest modern offenses to government transparency&#8221;<\/strong>\u00a0and said the response of the State and Justice Departments<strong>\u00a0&#8220;smacks of outrageous misconduct.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"max-width-video-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"fluid-width-video-wrapper\"><iframe id=\"fitvid855976\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/dRpFhQcPHq4\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/press-room\/press-releases\/federal-court-orders-discovery-on-clinton-email-benghazi-scandal-top-obama-clinton-officials-susan-rice-and-ben-rhodes-to-respond-to-judicial-watch-questions-under-oath\/\">Judicial Watch announced last night\u00a0<\/a>that United States District\u00a0<strong>Judge Royce C. Lamberth\u00a0<u><a href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/document-archive\/jw-v-state-deposition-order-01242\/\">ruled<\/a><\/u>\u00a0that discovery can begin in Hillary Clinton\u2019s email scandal.\u00a0<\/strong>Obama administration senior State Department officials, lawyers, and Clinton aides will now be deposed under oath. Senior officials &#8211;<strong>\u00a0including Susan Rice, Ben Rhodes, Jacob Sullivan, and FBI official E.W. Priestap\u00a0<\/strong>&#8211; will now have to answer Judicial Watch\u2019s written questions under oath. The court rejected the DOJ and State Department\u2019s objections to Judicial Watch\u2019s court-ordered\u00a0<u><a href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/press-room\/press-releases\/judicial-watch-seeks-to-question-top-obama-clinton-officials-on-clinton-email-issue-seeks-depositions-of-susan-rice-and-ben-rhodes-on-benghazi-talking-points-documents\/\">discovery plan<\/a><\/u>.\u00a0<em>(The court, in ordering a discovery plan last month,\u00a0<u><a href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/press-room\/press-releases\/federal-judge-opens-discovery-into-clinton-email-usage\/\">ruled<\/a><\/u>that the Clinton email system was \u201cone of the gravest modern offenses to government transparency.\u201d)<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Judicial Watch\u2019s discovery will seek answers to:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Whether Clinton intentionally attempted to evade the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) by using a non-government email system;<\/li>\n<li>whether the State Department\u2019s efforts to settle this case beginning in late 2014 amounted to bad faith; and<\/li>\n<li>whether the State Department adequately searched for records responsive to Judicial Watch\u2019s FOIA request.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Discovery is scheduled to be completed within 120 days.\u00a0<\/strong>The court will hold a post-discovery hearing to determine if Judicial Watch may also depose additional witnesses, including Clinton and her former Chief of Staff Cheryl Mills.<\/p>\n<p>Judge Lamberth ordered written responses under oath to Judicial Watch\u2019s questions from Obama administration senior officials Rice, Rhodes and Sullivan, and former FBI official Priestap. Rice and Rhodes will answer interrogatories under oath on the Benghazi scandal. Rejecting the State and Justice Department objections to discovery on the infamous\u00a0<u><a href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/press-room\/press-releases\/judicial-watch-asks-court-order-state-department-end-slow-dragging-benghazi-cover-documents\/\">Benghazi talking points<\/a><\/u>, Judge Lamberth reiterated:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Yet Rice\u2019s talking points and State\u2019s understanding of the attack play an unavoidably central role in this case: information about the points\u2019 development and content, as well as their discussion and dissemination before and after Rice\u2019s appearances could reveal unsearched, relevant records; State\u2019s role in the points\u2019 content and development could shed light on Clinton\u2019s motives for shielding her emails from FOIA requesters or on State\u2019s reluctance to search her emails.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Judicial Watch also may serve interrogatories on Monica Hanley, a former staff member in the State Department\u2019s Office of the Secretary, and on Lauren Jiloty, Clinton\u2019s former special assistant.<\/p>\n<p><strong>According to Lamberth\u2019s order, regarding whether Clinton\u2019s private email use while Secretary of State was an intentional attempt to evade FOIA,<\/strong>\u00a0Judicial Watch may depose:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><u>Eric Boswell, the former Assistant Secretary for Diplomatic Security<\/u><\/strong>.\u2026 Boswell\u2019s March 2009 memo to Mills \u2026 discusses security risks Clinton\u2019s Blackberry use posed more generally. And Boswell personally discussed the memo with Clinton. So, he plainly has relevant information about that conversation and about his general knowledge of Clinton\u2019s email use. Judicial Watch may depose Boswell.<\/p>\n<p><strong><u>Justin Cooper. the Clinton Foundation employee who created the clintonemail.com server<\/u>.<\/strong>\u00a0In its proposal, Judicial Watch noted Cooper\u2019s prior congressional testimony \u201cappears to contradict portions of the testimony provided by Huma Abedin in the case before Judge Sullivan.\u201d \u2026 Cooper repeatedly told Congress that Abedin helped set-up the Clintons\u2019 private server, e.g., Examining Preservation of State Department Federal Records: [before a Congressional hearing] Abedin testified under oath she did not know about the server until six years later.\u2026 Judicial Watch may depose Cooper.<\/p>\n<p><strong><u>Clarence Finney, the former deputy director of State\u2019s Executive Secretariat staff<\/u><\/strong>\u2026. [T]his case\u2019s questions hinge on what specific State employees knew and when they knew it. As the principal advisor and records management expert responsible for controlling Clinton\u2019s official correspondence and records, Finney\u2019s knowledge is particularly relevant. And especially given the concerns about government misconduct that prompted this discovery, Judicial Watch\u2019s ability to take his direct testimony and ask follow-up questions is critical.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, Judicial Watch states that it seeks to go beyond cursory, second-hand testimony and directly ask Finney what he knew about Clinton\u2019s email use. This includes asking about emails suggesting he knew about her private email use in 2014, and emails he received concerning a December 2012 FOIA request from Citizens for Responsible Ethics in Washington (CREW) regarding senior officials\u2019 personal email use-topics State\u2019s 30(b)(6) deposition in Judge Sullivan\u2019s case never addressed. Judicial Watch may depose Finney.<\/p>\n<p><strong>4.\u00a0<\/strong><u><strong>Heather Samuelson. the former State Department senior advisor who helped facilitate State\u2019s receipt of Hillary Clinton\u2019s emails<\/strong>.<\/u>\u2026 [T]his case turns on what specific government employees knew and when they knew it. Judicial Watch must be able to take their direct testimony and ask them follow-up questions. Judicial Watch may depose Samuelson.<\/p>\n<p><strong>5.\u00a0<u>Jacob Sullivan. Secretary Clinton\u2019s former senior advisor and deputy Chief of Staff<\/u>.<\/strong>\u00a0The government does not oppose Sullivan\u2019s deposition.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Regarding whether\u00a0<strong>the State Department\u2019s settlement attempts that began in late 2014 amounted to \u201cbad faith,\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0Judicial Watch was granted depositions from the State Department under Rule 30(b)(6); Finney; John Hackett, the former deputy director of State\u2019s Office of Information Programs &amp; Services; Gene Smilansky, an attorney-advisor within State\u2019s Office of the Legal Advisor; Samuelson; and others.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad__wrapper-element\"><\/div>\n<p>Judicial Watch was also granted\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/document-archive\/jw-v-state-interrogatories-01242\/\">interrogatories<\/a>\u00a0on whether the State Department adequately searched for responsive records, as well as several\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/document-archive\/jw-v-state-document-request-01242\/\">document requests<\/a>.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cIn a<strong>\u00a0major victory for accountability,<\/strong>\u00a0Judge Lamberth today authorized Judicial Watch to take discovery on whether the Clinton email system evaded FOIA and whether the Benghazi scandal was one reason for keeping Mrs. Clinton\u2019s email secret,\u201d said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cToday, Judicial Watch issued document requests and other discovery to the State Department about the Clinton email scandal.\u00a0<strong>Next up, we will begin questioning key witnesses under oath.<\/strong>\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The court-ordered discovery is the latest development in Judicial Watch\u2019s July 2014 FOIA\u00a0<u><a href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/press-room\/press-releases\/judicial-watch-announces-three-new-lawsuits-obama-administration-records-relating-benghazi-attack\/\">lawsuit<\/a><\/u>\u00a0filed after the U.S. Department of State failed to respond to a May 13, 2014 FOIA request (<em><u><a href=\"http:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/09-09-14-JW-v-State-01242-Benghazi-Rice.pdf\">Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of State<\/a><\/u><\/em>\u00a0(No. 1:14-cv-01242)). Judicial Watch seeks:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Copies of any updates and\/or talking points given to Ambassador Rice by the White House or any federal agency concerning, regarding, or related to the September 11, 2012 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya.<\/li>\n<li>Any and all records or communications concerning, regarding, or relating to talking points or updates on the Benghazi attack given to Ambassador Rice by the White House or any federal agency.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The Judicial Watch discovery plan was in response to a December 6, 2018,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/press-room\/press-releases\/federal-judge-opens-discovery-into-clinton-email-usage\/\">ruling<\/a>\u00a0by Judge Lamberth.<\/p>\n<p>Incredibly, Justice Department attorneys\u00a0<u><a href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/document-archive\/jw-v-state-doj-discovery-plan-01242\/\">admit in a filing<\/a><\/u>\u00a0opposing Judicial Watch\u2019s limited discovery that \u201cCounsel for State contacted the counsel of some third parties that Plaintiff originally included in its draft discovery proposal to obtain their client\u2019s position on being deposed.\u201d<strong>\u00a0This collusion occurred despite criticism from the Court that the DOJ engaged in \u201cchicanery\u201d to cover up misconduct and that career employees in the State and Justice Departments may have \u201ccolluded to scuttle public scrutiny of Clinton, skirt FOIA, and hoodwink this Court.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Judicial Watch\u00a0<u><a href=\"http:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/JW-v-State-HRC-email-response-01242-1.pdf\">countered<\/a><\/u>\u00a0that \u201c[t]he government\u2019s proposal, which is really nothing more than an opposition to [Judicial Watch\u2019s] plan, demonstrates that it continues to reject any impropriety on its part and that it seeks to block any meaningful inquiry into its \u2018outrageous misconduct.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As a reminder, this Judicial Watch FOIA lawsuit\u00a0<u><a href=\"https:\/\/www.judicialwatch.org\/press-room\/press-releases\/judicial-watch-accuses-obama-administration-of-misleading-court-on-hillary-clinton-email-scandal\/\">led directly<\/a><\/u>\u00a0to the disclosure of the Clinton email system in 2015.<\/p>\n<p>___<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.zerohedge.com\/news\/2019-01-16\/federal-judge-orders-rhodes-rice-other-obama-officials-respond-over-clinton\">https:\/\/www.zerohedge.com\/news\/2019-01-16\/federal-judge-orders-rhodes-rice-other-obama-officials-respond-over-clinton<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Federal Judge Orders Rhodes, Rice, &amp; Other Obama Officials To Respond Over Clinton Benghazi\/Email Scandal<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30237","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cosmicconvergence.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30237","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cosmicconvergence.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cosmicconvergence.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cosmicconvergence.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cosmicconvergence.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=30237"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cosmicconvergence.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30237\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cosmicconvergence.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=30237"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cosmicconvergence.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=30237"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cosmicconvergence.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=30237"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}