What to know about the newly discovered Hillary Clinton emails
Where did these new 15,000 emails come from?
These are documents and emails that were uncovered by the FBI during its criminal investigation that were not previously turned over by Clinton’s attorneys in response to several Freedom of Information Act lawsuits for documents related to her time as secretary of state. Clinton and her attorneys did not submit thousands of emails deemed by them to be personal -- “planning Chelsea’s wedding or my mother’s funeral arrangements,” or about “yoga routines” or “family vacations.’
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When the FBI probed whether classified information was mishandled on her private server, it uncovered 14.9 thousand new documents. The FBI handed over eight several discs to the State Department, but Judicial Watch is really interested in the first disc because it contains emails that were sent or received by Clinton. There are 14,900 docs on that disc alone according to the State Dept.
What are these new documents?
We don’t know yet. These could be duplicates of previously released emails, attachments, or other personal emails that were appropriately withheld. Or they could be documents that should have been released to the public, but we should find out in a matter of weeks.
Will these documents be released before the November elections?
The State Department is vetting the emails to see whether any of them should be deemed private and personal before releasing the rest. Emails could be released in batches as soon as early October. Those releases would take place on a weekly basis until the presidential election and then less frequently after that.
Is this a big deal?
Most of the concern about Clinton’s use of a private email server focused on the risk to classified information. Another concern was that the use of the private server could make it easier to thwart public records requests. If it turns out that a large number of these documents should have been made public, it will reaffirm one of the reasons using a private email server is frowned upon.
Will the Clinton email controversy ever end?
Even though Clinton has been cleared of any criminal wrongdoing – dozens of civil suits continue to wend their way through the courts, creating fresh controversy. Judicial Watch sues under public records law -- there were by March of last year 10 active Judicial Watch FOIA lawsuits against the State Department related to Clinton’s emails, so no, there probably will not be an end to Judicial Watch’s pursuit of Clinton records. The group has filed 90 lawsuits against President Obama since his presidency began, and it filed 18 lawsuits against Bill Clinton and members of his administration.