Former Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin used her personal email account to transmit classified documents and coordinate favors for Clinton donors, according to emails obtained by Judicial Watch Wednesday.
Judicial Watch obtained the documents as part of a lawsuit filed after the State Department failed to respond to a March 2015 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. The newly-obtained documentsinclude 91 Clinton email exchanges that were not turned over to the State Department, contradicting Clinton’sclaimthat, “as far as she knew,” she had turned over all of her government emails.
The emails reveal multiple instances in which Abedin used her personal account to send and receive classified documents as well as arrange personal favors for Clinton donors and political allies on former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s behalf.
“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,” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said in a statement.
In one particularly blatant example of nefarious activity, Miguel Lausell, a Puerto Rican Telecom executive and donor of over $1 million to the Clinton Library, requested through Clinton Foundation executive Doug Band that a specific candidate be considered for the U.S. ambassadorship to Puerto Rico. The following day in April 2009, a Clinton aide passed Lausell’s message to Clinton’s special assistants and instructed them to “make sure there is a response.” It remains unclear whether the person in question received the ambassadorship as the name is redacted.
In a similar example of preferential treatment toward Clinton donors, the managing director of left wing fundraising organization Democracy Alliance, Kelly Craighead, emailed Abedin asking her to “reach out” to an “extremely loyal supporter” who was awaiting a response regarding an application for a senior position at the Department of State.
One year later in April 201o, Craighead reached out again with a State Department personnel request.
“It would mean a lot to me if you could help or advise on a personnel situation for a dear friend,” Craighead said.
Abedin appears to have prioritized the request. “We love [Redacted]. Looking into this asap,” she responded.
Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton criticized the President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice (DOJ) for “slow walking” the release of information and said the newly obtained documents clearly merit a new investigation into Clinton’s conduct.
“Justice Department officials are in court repeatedly and regularly defending Clinton’s conduct,” Fitton told The Daily Caller News Foundation. “The sheer number of instances of influence peddling and pay to play we’ve reached passes the point of critical mass for something to be done.”
“Someone who doesn’t feel the need to protect Clinton or Obama could make a clear eyed decision. You want to reassure people that justice is being administered clearly.”
Fitton added that Trump will need to assume a more active role if the DOJ is to launch a thorough investigation into Clinton’s conduct.
“If [Trump] wants something done, he’s gotta do it himself, and I think he knows it.”
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