by WorldTribune Staff, October 17, 2018
U.S. District Court Judge Royce C. Lamberth strongly criticized the State Department, last week stating, “The information that I was provided was clearly false regarding the adequacy of the [Clinton email] search and… what we now know turned out to be the Secretary’s email system.”
Lamberth made the comment during his opening remarks at an Oct. 12 hearing regarding a request from Judicial Watch for testimony under oath from former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, top Clinton aide Cheryl Mills and several other State Department officials regarding the State Department’s processing of Judicial Watch’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request and Clinton’s emails.
Lamberth said: “The case started with a motion for summary judgment [seeking to close the case] here and which I denied and allowed limited discovery because it was clear to me that at the time that I ruled initially, that false statements were made to me by career State Department officials and it became more clear through discovery that the information that I was provided was clearly false regarding the adequacy of the search and this – what we now know turned out to be the Secretary’s email system.
The judge also stated that he was “dumbfounded” by the State Department’s Inspector General report revealing that Mills had been given immunity and was allowed to accompany former Clinton to her FBI interview regarding Clinton’s private email server.
“I had myself found that Cheryl Mills had committed perjury and lied under oath in a published opinion I had issued in a Judicial Watch case where I found her unworthy of belief, and I was quite shocked to find out she had been given immunity in – by the Justice Department in the Hillary Clinton email case,” Lamberth said. “So I did not know that until I read the IG report and learned that and that she had accompanied the Secretary to her interview.”
In an exchange with the Justice Department attorney representing the State Department, Lamberth said the attorney was using “doublespeak,” and playing “word games.”
Lamberth: The State Department told me that it had produced all records when it moved for summary judgment and you filed that motion. That was not true when that motion was filed.
Lawyer: At that time, we had produced all –
Lamberth: It was not true.
Lawyer: Yes, it was – well, Your Honor, it might be that our search could be found to be inadequate, but that declaration was absolutely true.
Lamberth: It was not true. It was a lie.
Lawyer: It was not a lie, Your Honor.
Lamberth: What – that’s doublespeak.
Lawyer: There’s strong precedent saying that items not in the State’s possession do not need to be searched.…
Lamberth: And that’s because the Secretary was doing this on a private server? So it wasn’t in the State’s possession?… So you’re playing the same word game she played?
“President Trump should ask why his State Department is still refusing to answer basic questions about the Clinton email scandal,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “Hillary Clinton’s and the State Department’s email cover up abused the FOIA, the courts, and the American people’s right to know.”
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