Success doesn’t come easy. As JW president, I have the honor of reporting to you our successes in holding our government to account. We beat the Obama IRS and exposed its ongoing corruption. We exposed the deepest Benghazi cover-ups all the way to the Oval Office. We forced the creation of a Select Committee on Benghazi. We forced the Clinton email scandal into the open. And then we uncovered even more facts in a way that embarrasses most of the media and Congress (and helped lead to the resignation of John Boehner as Speaker of the House).
Many ask how we are able to achieve so much! The answer is hard work, determination, and smarts. Our successes come because of countless hours by my Judicial Watch colleagues who investigate and litigate against a government that is to transparency what a black hole is to light.
Let’s focus again on the Clinton email scandal. I’ve told you that we have 20 lawsuits that relate to this scandal. It is one thing to say we have 20 lawsuits, and then move on to the latest revelations, but let me tell you how much of a massive effort it is to litigate these lawsuits. For example, you may know that the Obama gang at the State Department (to help the Hillary Clinton gang) has sought to delay 32 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuits (of which JW filed 16) – under the guise of a coordination motion with the court.
Of course, we opposed this motion, which has no basis in law:
Finally, before the State Department initiated this action, Judicial Watch asked it to identify the legal basis for the action. It could not do so. The State Department responded, “There is no precise rule that provides for what we are seeking. Since we will be filing a notice with the motion attached in each case, all 17 (sic) judges and 13 plaintiffs will receive notice, and the Court will be able to respond as it sees fit.” See Exhibit 1. It continued, “We will, of course, follow directions from the Court if it turns out a miscellaneous action is inappropriate.” Id. In short, the State Department knew its miscellaneous action had no basis in law – certainly none that it could identify – but proceeded nonetheless.
Imagine facing government lawyers trying to upend all at once 16 federal FOIA lawsuits you filed! Just opposing that one move requires significant effort, but it gets worse. The Obama administration filed motions to stay in nine of these lawsuits, eight of which required response from our legal team. And the briefs opposing this massive stonewall had to be individually tailored to each of our lawsuits, so it required another gargantuan legal effort. For your education, I have linked each opposition motion to document our work on behalf of the American people and the Obama administration’s contempt for transparency. You can read each Judicial Watch legal filing via this web page.
At least three judges already have rejected or put aside the efforts to delay our cases. I believe only one court granted the State Department’s effort to delay accountability and transparency. Next week, Judicial Watch will appear in two different courts on the email issue. Judge Emmet Sullivan has scheduled a hearing for October 6 that we hope will result in further success in forcing answers about where the Clinton-related emails are being secreted from the American people. And Judge Reggie B. Walton has scheduled a hearing for the next day, October 7, that we will hope will result in a protective order (at a minimum) that directs Hillary Clinton and others to preserve (and not delete or destroy) all emails that she has yet to turn over to the government, the FBI, and federal prosecutors.
You can see how the astonishing work of our lawyers, investigators, and other hard-working Judicial Watch employees are the keys to our success. Could anyone other than JW handle this complex, intense, high-stakes, closely-watched litigation and investigation? I think not. Especially since no one can match the loyal support of our 370,000 plus active supporters!
Recently, Judicial Watch’s work resulted in all sorts of news. The Wall Street Journal confirmed the Clinton email gap story first broken by JW on September 14 (which the Journal did not acknowledge). although JW is featured in a Wall Street Journal video report featuring yours truly talking about the latest developments.