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January 15, 2018
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
Seven Other Top State Department/Clinton Aides Must also Respond to Judicial Watch Queries
(Washington, DC) — Judicial Watch announced today that United States District Judge Royce C. Lamberth ruled that discovery can begin in Hillary Clinton’s email scandal. Obama administration senior State Department officials, lawyers and Clinton aides will now be deposed under oath. Senior officials, including Susan Rice, Ben Rhodes, Jacob Sullivan, and FBI official E.W. Priestap, will now have to answer Judicial Watch’s written questions under oath. The court rejected the DOJ and State Department’s objections to Judicial Watch’s court-ordered discovery plan. (The court, in ordering a discovery plan last month, ruled that the Clinton email system was “one of the gravest modern offenses to government transparency.”)
Judicial Watch’s discovery will seek answers to:
Whether Clinton intentionally attempted to evade the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) by using a non-government email system;
whether the State Department’s efforts to settle this case beginning in late 2014 amounted to bad faith; and
whether the State Department adequately searched for records responsive to Judicial Watch’s FOIA request.
Discovery is scheduled to be completed within 120 days. 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.
Judge Lamberth ordered written responses under oath to Judicial Watch’s 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 Benghazi talking points, Judge Lamberth reiterated:
Yet Rice’s talking points and State’s understanding of the attack play an unavoidably central role in this case: information about the points’ development and content, as well as their discussion and dissemination before and after Rice’s appearances could reveal unsearched, relevant records; State’s role in the points’ content and development could shed light on Clinton’s motives for shielding her emails from FOIA requesters or on State’s reluctance to search her emails.
Judicial Watch also may serve interrogatories on Monica Hanley, a former staff member in the State Department’s Office of the Secretary, and on Lauren Jiloty, Clinton’s former special assistant.
According to Lamberth’s order, regarding whether Clinton’s private email use while Secretary of State was an intentional attempt to evade FOIA, Judicial Watch may depose:
Eric Boswell, the former Assistant Secretary for Diplomatic Security.… Boswell’s March 2009 memo to Mills … discusses security risks Clinton’s 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’s email use. Judicial Watch may depose Boswell.
Justin Cooper. the Clinton Foundation employee who created the clintonemail.com server. In its proposal, Judicial Watch noted Cooper’s prior congressional testimony “appears to contradict portions of the testimony provided by Huma Abedin in the case before Judge Sullivan.” … Cooper repeatedly told Congress that Abedin helped set-up the Clintons’ 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.… Judicial Watch may depose Cooper.
Clarence Finney, the former deputy director of State’s Executive Secretariat staff…. [T]his case’s 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’s official correspondence and records, Finney’s knowledge is particularly relevant. And especially given the concerns about government misconduct that prompted this discovery, Judicial Watch’s ability to take his direct testimony and ask follow-up questions is critical.
***
Judicial Watch seeks to go beyond cursory, second-hand testimony and directly ask Finney what he knew about Clinton’s 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’ personal email use-topics State’s 30(b)(6) deposition in Judge Sullivan’s case never addressed. Judicial Watch may depose Finney.
4. Heather Samuelson. the former State Department senior advisor who helped facilitate State’s receipt of Hillary Clinton’s emails.… [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.
5. Jacob Sullivan. Secretary Clinton’s former senior advisor and deputy Chief of Staff. The government does not oppose Sullivan’s deposition.
Regarding whether the State Department’s settlement attempts that began in late 2014 amounted to “bad faith,” Judicial Watch was granted depositions from the State Department under Rule 30(b)(6); Finney; John Hackett, the former deputy director of State’s Office of Information Programs & Services; Gene Smilansky, an attorney-advisor within State’s Office of the Legal Advisor; Samuelson; and others.
Judicial Watch was also granted interrogatories on whether the State Department adequately searched for responsive records, as well as several document requests.
“In a major victory for accountability, Judge 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’s email secret,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “Today, Judicial Watch issued document requests and other discovery to the State Department about the Clinton email scandal. Next up, we will begin questioning key witnesses under oath.”
The court-ordered discovery is the latest development in Judicial Watch’s July 2014 FOIA lawsuit filed after the U.S. Department of State failed to respond to a May 13, 2014 FOIA request (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of State (No. 1:14-cv-01242)). Judicial Watch seeks:
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.
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.
The Judicial Watch discovery plan was in response to a December 6, 2018, ruling by Judge Lamberth.
Incredibly, Justice Department attorneys admit in a filing opposing Judicial Watch’s limited discovery that “Counsel for State contacted the counsel of some third parties that Plaintiff originally included in its draft discovery proposal to obtain their client’s position on being deposed.” This collusion occurred despite criticism from the Court that the DOJ engaged in “chicanery” to cover up misconduct and that career employees in the State and Justice Departments may have “colluded to scuttle public scrutiny of Clinton, skirt FOIA, and hoodwink this Court.”
Judicial Watch countered that “[t]he government’s proposal, which is really nothing more than an opposition to [Judicial Watch’s] plan, demonstrates that it continues to reject any impropriety on its part and that it seeks to block any meaningful inquiry into its ‘outrageous misconduct.’”
This Judicial Watch FOIA lawsuit led directly to the disclosure of the Clinton email system in 2015.
Sunday, January 13, 2019
by Jm Moran
2019-01-13T23:51:04.000Z
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by Jm Moran
2019-01-13T23:50:45.000Z
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ADL: THE PROGRESSIVE DESTRUCTION OF AMERICA FROM WITHIN
Com-donkey
There is little doubt that the Democrat Party has now become closer to becoming the neo-Communist party in the United States that to the traditional moderate mainstream Democrat party of my parents and my era A turn toward the radical progressive socialist democrats under former President Obama, himself a transformational president who early on embraced communism, black liberation theology, and anti-Semitism.
This entire Russia collusion charade is merely another attempt by the radicals to cover-up the demonstrable damage they have done to the country and to hide the depth of infiltration and compromise of some of the nation’s premier institutions such as the CIA, DOJ, FBI, IRS, EPA, DOE, and others.
They need to discredit President Trump. But even more important, is their need to capture the House of Representatives to shut down the investigations that are highlighting the traitorous, seditious, and rebellious nature of the Obama Administration.
How else can you explain the entry of the mostly non-political Anti-Defamation League’s into partisan politics?
Under the direction of Jonathan Greenblatt, the sixth national director and CEO, the ADL (Anti-Defamation League) has seemingly turned from highlighting and combatting anti-Semitism, anti-Jew, and anti-Israel bias to a partisan political machine that blindly supports the policies of former President Obama, openly disparages Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and now has apparently joined the anti-Trump movement to oppose both President Trump, his policies, and his nominees for office.
Greenblatt recently served in Obama’s White House as a “Special Assistant to Barack Obama” and the Director of the Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation. In essence, he was part of the Obama machine designed to seduce Jews, ordinarily progressive socialist democrats, into accepting Barack Obama and his cadre of pro-communist, pro-Muslim, and anti-Israel acolytes.
The Tweets…
adl-aa
There is nothing in Judge Kavanaugh’s distinguished history to suggest he is anti-Semitic, anti-Israel, anti-Jew or anything else. So why else that Greenblatt’s bias against Trump and the Trump Administration would provoke such a nonsensical statement. The idea that Kavanaugh’s elevation to the Supreme Court would somehow compromise civil rights and civil liberties by following the U.S. Constitution is ludicrous.
adl-d
Greenblatt seems to ignore the concept of national sovereignty and that the nation’s ability to protect its borders is vital to national defense. It is not “inhumane” to keep your country free, safe, and protect its legal residents from harm.
adl-c
Immigrant community? There is no problem with legal immigrants, even those who refuse to assimilate. The problem is the illegal immigrants who believe they have some “right” to enter our country because their country has become a corrupt hellhole, mostly under dictators, socialists, and communists. The United States is governed by our Constitution, not a poem on the base of the Statue of Liberty. “The New Colossus" is a sonnet that American poet Emma Lazarus wrote in 1883 to raise money for the construction of a pedestal for the Statue of Liberty, not a statement of national purpose, nor one of legal standing. “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free…” does not supersede national sovereignty nor the “legal” immigration process that governed entry into the United States.
adl-b
Substitute “Muslim nationalists” for white supremacists, and you have the primary cause for the rise of anti-Semitism in America and elsewhere in the world. The statement by President Trump is absolutely correct, and prominent and disturbing examples can be found all over Europe.
adl-a
First, Greenblatt ignores that Trump has welcomed “legal” immigrants who obey the immigration laws into the country, it is the hoard of unregistered illegal immigrants who are problematical. I am not aware of any anti-Muslim policies other than those affecting national defense and attempt to keep America safe and secure from terrorists and others who want to recreate their own corrupt and toxic culture here in America. Then again, I wonder how Greenblatt feels about former President Obama giving massive aid and comfort to Iran, especially when his wife was an Iranian-Jewish political refugee who entered America legally.
What were they thinking…
When Greenblatt was approached about heading the ADL, he is quoted as saying, “I thought, ‘ADL is a civil rights organization. I’m not a civil rights expert. ADL is all lawyers. I’m not a lawyer. ADL is a Jewish organization. I’ve never worked in the Jewish community.’”
But Greenblatt’s business influence is clearly on display as the ADL’s Silicon Valley office is now partnering with the uber-progressive University of California, Berkeley to create an algorithm that can discern the difference between hate speech and non-hate speech. What makes Berkeley’s choice as a partner problematic is that the school is well-known for its anti-Israel, anti-Semitic atmosphere, and pro-Palestinian support?
I also wonder how Greenblatt feels about a foreign sovereign entity like Saudi Arabia funding most American Mosques and staffing them with radical Wahhabis – some noted terrorists and supporters of terrorists?
Bottom line…
It is inconsequential that Jonathan Greenblatt appears to hate Trump and the GOP. What matters is that he is destroying the reputation and goodwill of decades by compromising the core mission of the ADL and embracing radical progressive socialist democrat politics.
Some suggest Greenblatt’s animus towards Trump stems from the rumor that he was being considered for a high position in a Hillary Clinton administration – which was dashed when Trump took office. It is time to replace Greenblatt with a non-partisan director who will faithfully execute the ADL’s core mission and not merely parrot the radical progressive socialist democrats.
The idea that the ADL is a non-partisan organization and not an arm of the progressive socialist democrats is fading fast.
We are so screwed.
-- steve
OCASIO-CORTEZ: PROOF THAT SOMETHING IS WRONG IN THE DEMOCRAT PARTY
OC
On the day before the new congressional session, incoming New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez couldn’t wait to take to Twitter to announce her displeasure of reinstated House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s attempt to modify the House Rules to impose a modicum of fiscal discipline on spending.
Speaking out against Pelosi’s proposed “Pay As You Go” (PAYGO) initiative …
aoc-tweet-paygo
This should not surprise anyone because Ocasio-Cortez wants to implement the so-called “Green New Deal,” a progressive socialist democrat initiative designed to use global climate change as the raison d'être to implement an agenda that controls our sovereignty, our economy, and our population.
Here are a few excerpts from the House Rules changes she supports …
DRAFT TEXT FOR PROPOSED ADDENDUM TO HOUSE RULES FOR 116TH CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES
(1) ESTABLISHMENT; COMPOSITION.—
(A) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is hereby established a Select Committee For A Green New Deal (hereinafter in this section referred to as the “select committee”).
(B) COMPOSITION.—The select committee shall be composed of 15 members appointed by the Speaker, of whom 6 may be appointed on the recommendation of the Minority Leader. The Speaker shall designate one member of the select committee as its chair. A vacancy in the membership of the select committee shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointment.
(2) JURISDICTION; FUNCTIONS.—
(A) LEGISLATIVE JURISDICTION.—
(i) The select committee shall have authority to develop a detailed national, industrial, economic mobilization plan (hereinafter in this section referred to as the “Plan for a Green New Deal” or the “Plan”) for the transition of the United States economy to become greenhouse gas emissions neutral and to significantly draw down greenhouse gases from the atmosphere and oceans and to promote economic and environmental justice and equality. In furtherance of the foregoing, the Plan shall: (a) be prepared in consultation with experts and leaders from business, labor, state and local governments, tribal nations, academia and broadly representative civil society groups and communities; (b) be driven by the federal government, in collaboration, co-creation and partnership with business, labor, state and local governments, tribal nations, research institutions and civil society groups and communities; (c) be executed in no longer than 10 years from the start of execution of such Plan; (d) provide opportunities for high income work, entrepreneurship and cooperative and public ownership; and (e) additionally, be responsive to, and in accordance with, the goals and guidelines relating to social, economic, racial, regional and gender-based justice and equality set forth in paragraph (6).
[OCS: The progressive socialist democrats are seeking the power to destroy capitalism and implement a socialist system. Think of Cuba or Venezuela on steroids.]
(ii) In addition to preparing the Plan as set forth in paragraph (2)(A)(i), the select committee shall prepare draft legislation for the enactment of the Plan (hereinafter in this section referred to as the “draft legislation”), in accordance with this section. Such draft legislation may be prepared concurrently with the development of the Plan, or as the select committee may otherwise deem appropriate, provided that such finalized draft legislation shall be completed in accordance with the timing set forth in paragraph (5)(B)(ii).
(iii) The select committee shall not have legislative jurisdiction and shall have no authority to take legislative action on any bill or resolution, provided that the foregoing shall not affect the select committee’s ability to prepare draft legislation in accordance with paragraph (2)(A)(i) and (2)(A)(ii).
(B) INVESTIGATIVE JURISDICTION.—In furtherance of the mandate set forth in paragraph (2)(A), the select committee shall have the authority to investigate, study, make findings, convene experts and leaders from industry, academia, local communities, labor, finance, technology and any other industry or group that the select committee deems to be a relevant resource. The select committee may, at its discretion and as its members may deem appropriate, hold public hearings in connection with any aspect of its investigative functions.
[OCS: The progressive socialist democrats will abuse the power of their office to punish their enemies much as it was done in the Clinton and Obama administrations. As for hearings, they are clearly dog-and-pony shows for the media and accomplish little except for making headlines.]
(6) SCOPE OF THE PLAN FOR A GREEN NEW DEAL AND THE DRAFT LEGISLATION.—
(A) The Plan for a Green New Deal (and the draft legislation) shall be developed with the objective of reaching the following outcomes within the target window of 10 years from the start of execution of the Plan:
Dramatically expand existing renewable power sources and deploy new production capacity with the goal of meeting 100% of national power demand through renewable sources;
[OCS: This can never be achieved without resorting to nuclear energy which, as we all know, has been demonized by the progressive socialist democrats – mostly at the direction of the communists who feared losing ground to a nuclearized America with the overwhelming capacity to defend itself against hostile forces.]
building a national, energy-efficient, “smart” grid;
upgrading every residential and industrial building for state-of-the-art energy efficiency, comfort and safety;
eliminating greenhouse gas emissions from the manufacturing, agricultural and other industries, including by investing in local-scale agriculture in communities across the country;
eliminating greenhouse gas emissions from, repairing and improving transportation and other infrastructure, and upgrading water infrastructure to ensure universal access to clean water;
funding massive investment in the drawdown of greenhouse gases;
[OCS: There is absolutely no proof that controlling carbon dioxide, methane or any other trace greenhouse gasses will have an effect on the global climate (mostly impacted by China, India, and the Russia) and supersede the natural variability of climate, or be more effective than the greatest greenhouse gas – water vapor.]
making “green” technology, industry, expertise, products and services a major export of the United States, with the aim of becoming the undisputed international leader in helping other countries transition to completely greenhouse gas neutral economies and bringing about a global Green New Deal.
[OCS: Export technology which is mostly stolen and implemented by our enemies and others?]
(B) The Plan for a Green New Deal (and the draft legislation) shall recognize that a national, industrial, economic mobilization of this scope and scale is a historic opportunity to virtually eliminate poverty in the United States and to make prosperity, wealth and economic security available to everyone participating in the transformation. In furtherance of the foregoing, the Plan (and the draft legislation) shall:
provide all members of our society, across all regions and all communities, the opportunity, training and education to be a full and equal participant in the transition, including through a job guarantee program to assure a living wage job to every person who wants one;
[OCS: One can anticipate massive Soviet-style government make-work programs that decouple productivity, wages, and rewards to produce apathetic workers who eventually grow lazy and game the system.]
diversify local and regional economies, with a particular focus on communities where the fossil fuel industry holds significant control over the labor market, to ensure workers have the necessary tools, opportunities, and economic assistance to succeed during the energy transition;
[OCS: Ignore that fossil fuels have driven the greatest expansion of industrialization for the common good in the history of mankind and that so-called green sources, with the exception of nuclear and geo-thermal, are not generally reliable, available on demand, and cost-efficient.]
require strong enforcement of labor, workplace safety, and wage standards that recognize the rights of workers to organize and unionize free of coercion, intimidation, and harassment, and creation of meaningful, quality, career employment;
[OCS: funny that the words coercion, intimidation, and harassment are used when they describe the very union recruitment and enforcement tactics the progressive socialist democrats are trying to promote.]
ensure a ‘just transition’ for all workers, low-income communities, communities of color, indigenous communities, rural and urban communities and the front-line communities most affected by climate change, pollution and other environmental harm including by ensuring that local implementation of the transition is led from the community level and by prioritizing solutions that end the harms faced by front-line communities from climate change and environmental pollution;
[OCS: What does this mean except massive affirmative action programs to promote those communities who support progressive socialist democrats and their agenda? Everyone is harmed by adverse weather events – so control over the population is complete.]
protect and enforce sovereign rights and land rights of tribal nations;
mitigate deeply entrenched racial, regional and gender-based inequalities in income and wealth (including, without limitation, ensuring that federal and other investment will be equitably distributed to historically impoverished, low income, deindustrialized or other marginalized communities in such a way that builds wealth and ownership at the community level);
[OCS: can you say reparations, wealth-distribution, and control over private property?]
include additional measures such as basic income programs, universal health care programs and any others as the select committee may deem appropriate to promote economic security, labor market flexibility and entrepreneurism; and
[OCS: there is not enough money in the United States to implement and pay for these programs, especially since much of the government is already financed on credit.]
deeply involve national and local labor unions to take a leadership role in the process of job training and worker deployment.
[OCS: The unions are socialistic creation and are anti-competitive. They reward seniority over merit, the status quo over innovation, the balkanization of single-employee tasks to make room for more workers, control their members with thuggish tactics – and in general do little other than to serve as a funding mechanism of the progressive socialist democrats and their cronies.]
(C) The Plan for a Green New Deal (and the draft legislation) shall recognize that innovative public and other financing structures are a crucial component in achieving and furthering the goals and guidelines relating to social, economic, racial, regional and gender-based justice and equality and cooperative and public ownership set forth in paragraphs (2)(A)(i) and (6)
[OCS: Roughly translated – we will decide who to fund based on their cooperation with our progressive socialist agenda.]
(B). The Plan (and the draft legislation) shall, accordingly, ensure that the majority of financing of the Plan shall be accomplished by the federal government, using a combination of the Federal Reserve, a new public bank or system of regional and specialized public banks, public venture funds and such other vehicles or structures that the select committee deems appropriate, in order to ensure that interest and other investment returns generated from public investments made in connection with the Plan will be returned to the treasury, reduce taxpayer burden and allow for more investment.
[OCS: This is a lie. The money will not be returned to the taxpayer unless it is in the most “theoretical” sense. Any profits from the government chosen winners will be returned to those who regard the Treasury as a piggy-bank to fund their progressive agenda. Of course, the “taxpayers” will suffer the losses from screwed-up crony-driven ventures like Solyndra and others.]
It appears that Pelosi’s desire to restrict spending would be an anathema to the free-spending socialists and communists who believe their dream revolution leading to a new society is around the corner.
As one pundit noted…
Ocasio-Cortez may not be in Congress yet, but she already has a plan to remake the way Americans drive, commute, live, work, and even use the financial system. Let there be little doubt how she aspires to wield power in Washington.
Bottom line…
The threat to America is not from Russia, China, Iran, or North Korea – it is from those within the government who seek to bring down our nation, militarily and economically, while our enemies sit back, eat popcorn, and applaud.
We are so screwed.
-- steve
