This week Citizens United sued the State Department in federal court over its unlawful withholding of documents relating to Hillary Clinton’s tenure as Secretary of State.
We are currently in pre-production for a sequel to our landmark film Hillary: The Movie. This film will take a hard look at Hillary Clinton’s career and will tell the truth about her failed record as Barack Obama’s Secretary of State.
We’ve filed numerous Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) requests for documents relating to Hillary’s time at the State Department. These requests have gone largely unanswered. What is the State Department trying to hide? Why won’t the Obama Administration prioritize transparency when it comes to taxpayer-funded public documents? The public has a right to know – yes, even if it is about Hillary Clinton!
Our lawsuit involves a FOIA request that was filed in July. By law, the State Department had twenty business days to produce the documents or explain why it would not do so. That date has long since passed. We’ve waited five months since our initial request before filing this lawsuit.
Citizens United requested records from the State Department about Secretary Clinton’s overseas travel. All we want to know is who accompanied Hillary on these trips and how much it cost the American taxpayer. Did any wealthy Clinton campaign or foundation contributors get rewarded for their largesse? These questions deserve immediate answers in light of the reports that surfaced during the Clinton Administration in the 1990s. These reports suggested that big Democrat contributors were allegedly rewarded with flights on official Commerce Department trade missions overseas. Selling access to big donors was a regular news item during the dark days of the Clintons’ tenure in the White House.
Sadly, stonewalling and slow-walking the production of public Clinton documents and records is all too familiar as well. As the former Chief Investigator for the U.S House Oversight Committee at the time, I can tell you firsthand that well-orchestrated delay tactics with document requests and subpoenas was the order of the day. And, of course, it continues to be the modus operandi of Hillary Clinton and friends all these years later.
As an example, Citizens United sent a narrow, non-controversial FOIA request to the State Department in January 2010. We received a small production of documents in response to this request in August 2014. The American people should not have to wait four and half years for public records from our government. This is simply unacceptable.
Our government is supposed to be of the people, by the people, and for the people. The FOIA process helps ensure transparency in government, and only through that transparency can we the people hold the government accountable. It’s time for the State Department to stop stonewalling and turn over these documents. Sign our petition to break through the stonewall.
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