Federal Government Agrees to Pay Judicial Watch $842,500 in Attorney’s Fees and Costs Related to Clinton Scandal Lawsuit

Clinton Administration Destroyed Documents Involving Illegal Scheme to Sell Seats on Taxpayer-Funded Trade Missions for Campaign Contributions




(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, announced today that the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has approved a settlement by which the U.S. Commerce Department has agreed to pay Judicial Watch $842,500 in attorney’s fees and costs arising from a lengthy and contentious Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit that sought access to records concerning a infamous Clinton Administration fundraising scandal [Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of Commerce, Civil Action No. 95-133 (RCL)]. An appellate court largely upheld the award on December 1, 2006, after a nearly decade-long court battle between Judicial Watch and the Commerce Department.

The scandal involved a scheme by Clinton administration officials to sell seats on taxpayer-funded trade missions in exchange for campaign contributions to the Democratic National Committee. When Judicial Watch began investigating the scandal, Clinton administration officials deliberately concealed and destroyed records regarding the trade missions to avoid releasing them to Judicial Watch. In fact, Ms. Nolanda Hill, a business partner and confidante of then-Clinton Commerce Secretary Ron Brown, testified at a dramatic court hearing during the litigation that the Clinton White House “instructedâ€