Thread: Attorneys Take on DOJ For Filing Secret Document About Clinton Email Investigation

Attorneys Take on DOJ For Filing Secret Document
About Clinton Email Investigation

by Rachel Stockman | 8:38 pm, April 20th, 2016



Attorneys for Vice News reporter Jason Leopold are taking the FBI and the U.S. Department of Justice to task after the feds filed a classified declaration supposedly providing more information to the court about the FBI’s investigation into Clinton’s private email server. The filing was part of a FOIA lawsuit filed in federal court by Leopold seeking Clinton’s emails from her private server as well as correspondence between the FBI and Clinton referencing the Clinton email server.

In March, the government filed a motion for summary judgement in the case, and incorporated as one of the supporting documents this classified declaration. That’s significant because as former federal prosecutor Bill Thomas told LawNewz.com not only is the “information being submitted to the court classified, but its really more than that, it is information that if revealed there exists ‘reasonable danger that compulsion of the evidence will expose military matters which, in the interest of national security, should not be divulged.'”

Leopold’s attorneys believe that at the very least the DOJ should be required to put a redacted version of the declaration into the public record for everybody to see.
Attorney Ryan James wrote in the filing:

Defendant (the government) has submitted an in camera, ex parte declaration without having previously obtained leave of Court to do so. Plaintiff requests that Defendant be ordered to show good cause why it should not be required to file a redacted version of the classified in camera, ex parte declaration so that the unclassified portion will be on the the public record.

The attorneys also asked that the judge hold off from reviewing the government’s declaration until they can respond to any arguments made by the DOJ as to why a redacted version of the declaration is not in the public docket. Judge Randolph Moss ordered the government to file a redacted version on the public docket or show cause why a redacted version should not be filed. A DOJ spokesperson decline comment to Politico about this story.

http://lawnewz.com/high-profile/atto...investigation/

Very interesting update today in regards to the
FBI Clinton Server Investigation.

By OmahaDemocrat
Wednesday Apr 20, 2016 · 4:19 PM PDT

Lawyers for a reporter demanding access to email messages and files the FBI has reportedly retrieved from Hillary Clinton's private server are objecting to a secret filing the Justice Department submitted to a federal court last month as part of a bid to keep those messages under wraps.

In a motion filed Tuesday, attorneys for Vice News reporter Jason Leopold formally protested the classified declaration the FBI filed offering U.S. District Court Judge Randy Moss additional details about the ongoing FBI investigation into how classified information wound up on Clinton's private server, which hosted the personal email account she used in lieu of a government one during her four years as secretary of state.

Leopold's attorneys argue that the Justice Department violated normal legal protocol by failing to seek advance permission from the court or notice to the other side before filing the unusual "ex parte" pleading.

"Because Defendant submitted the declaration ex parte for in camera review without prior permission from the Court, or opportunity for Plaintiff to be heard, there is no public record justifying the need for such secrecy of the portions that are not classified, or for the court to rule on the lawfulness of the Defendant’s nondisclosure," lawyers Jeffrey Light and Ryan James wrote.
The protest gained some traction late Wednesday afternoon when Moss ordered the Justice Department to file publicly a redacted copy of the secret filing or "show cause why" that isn't possible. He gave the government until April 26 to do that.

An FBI records official said disclosing other data and correspondence could "adversely" affect the pending investigation.
A Justice Department spokesman declined to comment.

Let me just state right off the bat that this isn’t a conspiracy or right wing attack. We’re talking about Politico and Vice News here.
Alright, so.

FOIA requests being denied because the contents contain classified materials is fairly common, especially in regards to this whole Clinton server investigation. When that happens, contents are either entirely withheld or are heavily redacted.

This filing by the Department of Justice was made in-camera and ex parte, which is essentially a private meeting with a judge, without the other party, public, or press being notified or present.

That is unique - it means the reasoning for denying the request is detrimental, not just the content.

The FOIA request was in regards to the ‘personal’ emails that Clinton deleted but were eventually recovered by the FBI. Clinton described those emails as wedding plans, yoga routines, and emails to Bill Clinton.

The DOJ now has until April 26th to explain why they couldn’t reveal the reasoning behind denying the FOIA request and why they did this in secret. If her ‘personal’ emails that she deleted contained classified content that would put her in a very precarious position. The Clinton’s have had to maintain that no classified material was located in her personal emails as legally they were all supposed to be the property of the State Department — and it is a crime to destroy classified material.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/4...-Investigation