by WorldTribune Staff, August 2, 2017

Donors to the Clinton Foundation received special favors from the State Department under Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, according to emails obtained by Judicial Watch from the unsecure, non-government account of Huma Abedin.

The 1,606 pages of documents released by Judicial Watch on Aug. 2 also revealed the repeated use of unsecured communications for classified information and interest expressed by Clinton or her staff in visiting Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez and North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Il.

The documents included 91 Clinton email exchanges not previously turned over to the State Department, “further contradicting a statement by Clinton that, ‘as far as she knew,’ all of her government emails had been turned over to the State Department,” Judicial Watch said.

“Pay to play, classified information mishandling, influence peddling, cover ups – these new emails show why the criminal investigation into Hillary Clinton’s conduct must be resumed,” said Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton. “The Trump Justice Department and FBI need to reassure the American people they have finally stopped providing political protection to Hillary Clinton.”

A number of the Abedin emails, which were obtained in response to a court order from a May 5, 2015 lawsuit filed against the State Department after it failed to respond to a March 18, 2015, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, show requests for favors between Clinton’s State Department and the Clinton Foundation and major Clinton donors.

The emails included:

• One showing that Howard Buffett, Jr., grandson of Warren Buffet, sought a meeting for his father, Howard Sr., with Hillary Clinton to discuss “food security.” The Buffett family, including Warren, his son Peter, and his late wife, Susan, through the Susan Buffett Foundation, all donated heavily to the Clintons and the Clinton Foundation. On behalf of Howard Buffett Jr., Bill Clinton aide Ben Schwerin asked Abedin to get Howard Buffett Sr. a meeting with Clinton. He says, “Any chance of a brief meeting?” Abedin replies, “we will take care of this.
• In another example, on April 12, 2009, Miguel Lausell, a Puerto Rican telecom executive who reportedly donated $1 million to the Clinton Presidential Library and was a member of the Clinton Global Initiative, made a request of Abedin through Clinton Foundation executive Doug Band to push for the appointment of someone to become U.S. ambassador to the Dominican Republic. Lausell concludes: “I will be in DC from the 7th to the 9th and would like if possible to say hello to hillary Please let me know.It would be just a short visit and not to ask anything from her.Just hello.” [Errors in original.] The next day, April 13, Clinton aide Nora Toiv passed Lausell’s message to Clinton special assistant Lauren Jiloty and Rob [last name unknown] to “make sure there is a response.”
• On April 3, 2009, Kelly Craighead, who at the time was Managing Director of Democracy Alliance, a controversial left-wing fundraising organization, emailed Abedin and Capricia Marshall, former Executive Director of HillPAC and Friends of Hillary, asking them to “reach out” to someone who was an “extremely loyal supporter” and was waiting to hear about a senior position at the State Department. Marshall responds to Craighead, saying the person was “on everyone’s list/grid” and directed her aides to follow up. A year later, in April 2010, Craighead contacted Abedin again, asking for assistance in landing a job for someone at State: “It would mean a lot to me if you could help or advise on a personnel situation for a dear friend.” Abedin replies, “We love [Redacted]. Looking into this asap.”
• On March 15, 2010, event planner Bryan Rafanelli, who was a 2016 Hillblazer and, according to Politico, had a company that was paying $1,200 a month rent for unused office space to Hillary Clinton’s defunct presidential campaign in 2010, got a private White House tour for friends arranged by Abedin.

Several emails contain classified information:

• On March 12, 2009, Sid Blumenthal, former aide to Bill Clinton and confidant of Hillary Clinton, sent Mrs. Clinton a memo about Northern Ireland that was classified CONFIDENTIAL and the details were withheld from release under FOIA Exemption B1.4(D) (dealing with foreign relations or foreign activities).
• On February 27, 2009, Ambassador Melanne Verveer sent Clinton a briefing memo/email on discussions she held with Congolese officials, which was classified as CONFIDENTIAL and withheld under FOIA exemption B1.4(D).
• On January 22, 2010, Deputy Chief of Staff Jake Sullivan sent an email about a call to Chinese Foreign Minister Yang to several State Department officials. It contained information classified as CONFIDENTIAL by State and exempted under FOIA Exemption B1.4(D). It was forwarded to Abedin’s unsecure email account. The email had an attached memorandum of the Clinton-Yang call. State Department official Courtney Beale subsequently tells Assistant Secretary Todd Stern that she had sent that memo previously to him on the “high side” [i.e., via secure email channels].
• On August 20, 2010, State Department official Laura Lucas sent to Abedin’s unclassified email account a call sheet for Clinton with Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Moratinos, which contained classified CONFIDENTIAL information that was withheld based on B1.4(D).

Two emails show Clinton or her staff expressing an interest in visiting Chavez and Kim Jong-Il.

On April 18, 2009, Abedin told Senior Advisor Philippe Reines that Clinton had “an encounter” with Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez, who “complimented wjc [Bill Clinton], said he hoped she would come to venezuela, she said she hoped so too.” Reines expressed concern, saying “Was the encounter on camera or widely seen?” Abedin responds: “Seen by a dozen people. A photog came in and took a photo at the end.” Reines replies, “Who went up to whom?”

Veteran diplomat Wendy Sherman sent a message to State officials on February 6, 2009, advising them to send a message to North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Il that Hillary Clinton “looks forward to the day when enough progress is made that she can come to NK as well.”

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  Clinton Foundation, Hillary Clinton emails, Human Abedin, Judicial Watch, Watchdog group: Abedin emails show Clinton Foundation donors received special treatment from Clinton State Dept., WorldTribune.com