Judge in Clinton FOIA Hearing : ‘False Statements Were Made To Me By Career State Department Officials’

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https://youtu.be/EMVRp7lVmpQ

Feisty U.S. District Court Judge Royce Lamberth came out swinging in his opening remarks at a hearing last Friday regarding the 2014 Judicial Watch (JW) FOIA request, which ultimately exposed Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server in the spring of 2015. Initially, JW was seeking information about the State Department’s response to the October 2012 Benghazi attack.

JW had sued for access to the sworn testimony of Clinton, close aide Cheryl Mills and other officials from the Clinton State Department (SD) pertaining to their initial FOIA request and Clinton’s emails. Just as the DOJ has stonewalled demands from Congressional investigators for documents, the SD continues to obstruct JW attempts to gain access to this information.

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Judge Royce, a Reagan appointee, spoke strongly to DOJ lawyer Robert Prince:

The information that I was provided was clearly false regarding the adequacy of the [Clinton email] search and… what we now know turned out to be the Secretary’s email system.

I had myself found that Cheryl Mills had committed perjury and lied under oath in a published opinion I had issued in a Judicial Watch case where I found her unworthy of belief, and I was quite shocked to find out she had been given immunity in — by the Justice Department in the Hillary Clinton email case. So I did not know that until I read the IG report and learned that and that she had accompanied the Secretary to her interview.

The case started with a motion for summary judgment [seeking to close the case] here and which I denied and allowed limited discovery because it was clear to me that at the time that I ruled initially, that false statements were made to me by career State Department officials and it became more clear through discovery that the information that I was provided was clearly false regarding the adequacy of the search and this – what we now know turned out to be the Secretary’s email system.

I don’t know the details of what kind of IG inquiry there was into why these career officials at the State Department would have filed false affidavits with me. I don’t know the details of why the Justice Department lawyers did not know false affidavits were being filed with me, but I was very relieved that I did not accept them and that I allowed limited discovery into what had happened.

Royce accused the State Department of using “doublespeak” and playing “word games.” Following is his exchange with Prince:

THE COURT: The State Department told me that it had produced all records when it moved for summary judgment and you filed that motion. That was not true when that motion was filed.

MR. PRINCE: At that time, we had produced all –

THE COURT: It was not true.

MR. PRINCE: Yes, it was – well, Your Honor, it might be that our search could be found to be inadequate, but that declaration was absolutely true.

THE COURT: It was not true. It was a lie.

MR. PRINCE: It was not a lie, Your Honor.

THE COURT: What – that’s doublespeak.

Prince argued that the SD was not required to provide the documents “because it did not “possess” or “control” them at the time the FOIA request was made.”

Royce pointed out that the reason the SD did not possess the documents was because they were contained on a private server which was improper in the first place. He said that a search of the records “voluntarily” turned over by Clinton and her associates was not “an adequate or reasonable one.”

PRINCE: There’s strong precedent saying that items not in the State’s possession do not need to be searched….

THE COURT:  And that’s because the Secretary was doing this on a private server? So it wasn’t in the State’s possession? So you’re playing the same word game she played?

In May 2016, Royce had granted “limited discovery” to JW because:

Where there is evidence of government wrong-doing and bad faith, as here, limited discovery is appropriate, even though it is exceedingly rare in FOIA cases.

…[Judicial Watch] is not relying on “speculation” or “surmise” as the State Department claims. [Judicial Watch] is relying on constantly shifting admissions by the Government and the former government officials.

The full transcript of the hearing is available here.

Similar to Judge T.S. Ellis III who presided over the Manafort trial, Judge Royce is unafraid to call out  officials on their lies. He not only questions the DOJ’s decision to grant immunity to Cheryl Mills, he plainly states that she committed perjury and he finds her “unworthy of belief.” When Prince tells him that a FOIA request for SD documents is unprecedented, he says it’s a valid request when evidence suggests the government has acted in bad faith. Unwilling to accept evasive answers and obstruction tactics, he appears to be a man who is pursuing the whole truth. We’ve heard enough of the story to understand that Americans were enormously deceived by top officials inside the Obama era intelligence agencies. Tying up all the loose ends will require more work. But, it will be worth it in the end, won’t it?

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Rocinante44
Rocinante44
5 years ago

here’s the real problem. a judge who was stupid enough to believe any of this. he’s a reagan appointee, but he’s still a fool

RJ Campbell
RJ Campbell
5 years ago
Reply to  Rocinante44

wrong.. Royce Lamberth is a sharp cookie.. we filed a major complaint about Obama’s Birth Certificate years ago and this Judge rendered a decision that damn near created a major problem for Obama.. Lamberth isn’t buying the State Department’s BS.. the truth is coming out.. within the next 6 months I am betting all the damaging documents showing Hillary and the Clinton Crime Family are totally in bed with the corrupt swamp.. Mueller, Rosenstein, McCabe, Comey, Brennan, Clapper.. these traitors are all toast..

Rocinante44
Rocinante44
5 years ago
Reply to  RJ Campbell

we’ll see. i see a gullible old man unwilling to believe that the federal government, of which he is part, could be evil

RJ Campbell
RJ Campbell
5 years ago
Reply to  Rocinante44

honestly, I am telling you that Lamberth is a cool customer.. he will allow Judicial Watch to gradually open up the can of worms in the State Department.. keep the faith.. there are some good judges out there.. Lamberth is very powerful in the DC area.. he is fairly conservative..

Rocinante44
Rocinante44
5 years ago
Reply to  RJ Campbell

wake me up when even one of the clinton-obola criminal syndicate goes to prison. it was a federal crime for killery, obola, comey, et al to use a private email for government business. they admit they did it and we all know they did it. obola used various names in his past, and swore on illinois bar application that he hadn’t. have you seen any of them charged with breaking the law yet?

RJ Campbell
RJ Campbell
5 years ago
Reply to  Rocinante44

why are you so negative? things look good.. Trump is kicking ass.. we have appointed over 40 new conservative judges to bench.. we got 2 on Supreme court.. you sound like a liberal.. stop it please..we don’t need negative voodoo right now..

Rocinante44
Rocinante44
5 years ago
Reply to  RJ Campbell

trump and the repub congress have had 2 years to investigate, prosecute, and punish the democrat criminal cartel that trashed the rule of law in the country for the last 26 years. the whole nation sees an arrogant criminal cartel in DC that is above the law and which will never be held accountable. DC continues to confiscate even more money from us than it did last year. the federal government is now confiscating over $50,000 annually from a family of 4, and they want more. it makes people like me wonder why I should obey the law and why i shouldn’t cheat on my taxes. i am sick and tired of being played for a fool by the dems, and i see the donald and the repubs content to let bygones be bygones. that’s why i’m negative.

RJ Campbell
RJ Campbell
5 years ago
Reply to  Rocinante44

well fk.. I hope you can’t sleep at night.. I sleep like a baby.. the Hag lost.. the Dems are turning to the Devil to survive.. we are winning with Trump.. be negative.. it suits you.. LOL

Rob Porter
Rob Porter
5 years ago
Reply to  RJ Campbell

“The Hag’ is walking free, sowing more discord and treachery – and yet you sleep like a baby – because you are naive and lack a sense of moral outrage that she is not rotting in prison.

James Jones
James Jones
5 years ago
Reply to  Rocinante44

I hear you and have wondered as well. Qanon, whoever he is, writes that Sessions hired a team of investigators (470) early on, and have thousands of sealed indictments awaiting the go to execute. Big fish he says, but the timing is not yet right. He points out the number of firings of top personnel at the primary agencies was necessary first and is done or near done, and that legal precedent prevents action that could influence an election. After November, the show begins.
But, if this is all true and does go down, don’t think this will bring sunshine and lollipops. Yes, it is badly needed, but the Left machine, already on the brink of open violence, will not restrain itself any longer as it sees it’s darlings on their way to justice.
Bring the cure, bring the rain ; things can’t go on as they have been. Trumps time will eventually end and if the swamp hasn’t been drained, it will start back up all over again.

Dave
Dave
5 years ago
Reply to  James Jones

It is now time for WE THE PEOPLE to drain the swamp: VOTE! Then support Trump in his effort to clean house. And there still is a lot of cleaning to do in the State Dep’t, FBI, DOJ and most important: the IRS!

Dave
Dave
5 years ago
Reply to  Dave

God bless Tom Litton and Judge Lamberth. Carry on.

WM1
WM1
5 years ago
Reply to  Rocinante44

I clearly get your point and, for the life of me, I don’t understand why RJ Campbell doesn’t-and appears to, somehow, mistakenly believe you’re on the ‘other side’ when, it’s crystal clear to me, you’re not!

WM1
WM1
5 years ago
Reply to  RJ Campbell

‘Negative voodoo?’ What the hell is that?

What we need is for judges to hold people accountable for the crimes they commit-namely perjury. It doesn’t take ‘six months’ to do that!

RJ Campbell
RJ Campbell
5 years ago
Reply to  Rocinante44

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/state-department-provided-clearly-false-statements-to-derail-hillary-clinton-doc-requests-federal-judge-says

In a combative exchange at a hearing Friday in Washington, D.C.,
a federal judge unabashedly accused career State Department officials of
lying and signing “clearly false” affidavits to derail a series of
lawsuits seeking information about former Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton’s private email server and her handling of the 2012 terrorist
attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya.

WM1
WM1
5 years ago
Reply to  RJ Campbell

So, again, what was the outcome of that rather obvious ‘discovery?’ What happened to the State Department officials?

WM1
WM1
5 years ago
Reply to  Rocinante44

Precisely!

Mark Steiner
Mark Steiner
5 years ago
Reply to  RJ Campbell

Okay, but do we have 6 months? We have a midterm election in less than 3 weeks. A bunch of uninformed electorates ready to pull the lever for a poor reason. Wrong choices will bring this matter to a screeching halt.

harriet
harriet
5 years ago
Reply to  Mark Steiner

VOTE

Mark Steiner
Mark Steiner
5 years ago
Reply to  harriet

And in voting, make righteous choices.

WM1
WM1
5 years ago
Reply to  RJ Campbell

Are ‘toast’ in what way?

Maus
Maus
5 years ago
Reply to  Rocinante44

A major cornerstone of American justice is that people who swear to tell the truth, do just that. Of course, credibility has to be weighed, but lawyers – officers of the court – are held to a higher stand in return for being given a higher degree of trust. Here is where the train as we know it in 2018 starts to leave the rails. Because there is absolutely ZERO judicial accountability for lying and suborning perjury on the part of lawyers, especially in the courts around Washington, D.C., then the whole aforementioned cornerstone unravels!

Jail them. Take their law licenses. Bar them from office for life!

WM1
WM1
5 years ago
Reply to  Maus

Precisely my point-only spoken far more eloquently than I ever could.

Suresh
Suresh
5 years ago
Reply to  Rocinante44

Agree. Clinton mafia still active after Trump takeover as they kill another witness to email investigation http://tinyurl.com/y8p9cv5l

They know their hold overs in FBI / DOJ /NSC will help them out !

Unless they are totally purged including Left/Liberal judges to keep out their bias …its uphill task to prosecute them.

And don’t you have Perjury laws ? Anyone who lies in court should lose his govt job. ..or this will continue.

YancyHomes1
YancyHomes1
5 years ago
Reply to  Rocinante44

This Judge is no fool. He was made a fool of by a State Department that was complicit in Clinton’s law breaking. Judges have no reason to question the integrity of the attorneys who come before them. This Judge found out later that he was conned, and he is not happy about it. All those who were involved in this obstruction of justice, must be dealt with. Whether it be criminal charges, or disbarment, they must be severly dealt with to keep others from doing the same thing. Cannot blame the Judge in this matter.

pyramid_003
pyramid_003
5 years ago

Judges who blindly accept everything they are told in these secret courts should be terminated immediately.

Those who lied to them must be prosecuted even if they have “retired”.

Steve
Steve
5 years ago
Reply to  pyramid_003

No they should be “retired.”

Poppey
Poppey
5 years ago

View this you tube, it helps explain how bad things are in modern Britain, you tube Breaking Tommy Robinson court update #iamsoldierx

Pouncekitty
Pouncekitty
5 years ago

When are they going to jail?

Warmac9999
Warmac9999
5 years ago

Lock Her Up – along with the other liars.

Sturgeon General
Sturgeon General
5 years ago

This should nullify all immunity granted to everyone involved.

Buzz
Buzz
5 years ago

An undercover video shows staffers on U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill’s campaign describing how Planned Parenthood sends money to her secretly so she will not look as pro-abortion to Missouri voters.
A pro-abortion Democrat, McCaskill is considered one of the most vulnerable senators running for re-election in November, Townhall reports. After voting against U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation, she fell behind her opponent, pro-life Republican Josh Hawley, in the polls.
The video, released by Project Veritas this week, shows how McCaskill’s campaign appears to be trying to appeal to moderate voters in the mid-western state by downplaying her radical pro-abortion stance.
“It’s f——- beautiful” how Planned Parenthood indirectly supports McCaskill’s campaign, one staffer tells an undercover investigator.
If you love and want to preserve this country, our Constitution, and freedoms, NEVER vote for a DemocRAT. You children and grandchildren depend on it.

Buzz
Buzz
5 years ago

The DemocRAT party has degenerated into a mob of vile, vicious, violent, hate-filled, lying, cheating, crooked thugs led by the likes of Nasty Pelosi, Chuck U. Schumer and Mad Maxine Waters. If you want to save our Constitution and our freedoms, NEVER vote for a DemocRAT again. The DemocRATic partly needs to self destruct and be replace by a party of rational people who actually have working brains and love the United States of America and our Constitution. Urge all of your Republican, Independent, Conservative friends and others to get out and vote Republican to save this nation. Urge them to urge others. The future of your children and grand children depend on it.

Portland Antifa
https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2018/10/portland_driver_at_center_of_v.html

Dave Hunter
Dave Hunter
5 years ago

I notice that despite the fact that he was lied to, the judge did not hold anyone in contempt. More deep state theatrics!

bannedquran20
bannedquran20
5 years ago

Whatever evidence and proof is brought to the table, it’s very clear that people like dusty ovaries and people (??) like this one will never be sent up the river for life.

tom
tom
5 years ago

This country cannot move on until BOTH Clintons are in jail. They are criminals no different than Bonnie and Clyde.

Sheep Herder
Sheep Herder
5 years ago
Reply to  tom

At least Bonnie and Clyde had some class. LOL.

volksnut
volksnut
5 years ago

it will be worth it if hilly and her band of criminals spend the rest of their criminal lives in jail –

Drew the Infidel
Drew the Infidel
5 years ago

Remember Gomer Pyle? “Surprise, surprise, surprise.”

Alleged-Comment
Alleged-Comment
5 years ago

Apparently the bwitch Hillaryous considers ALL her e-mails personal matters and the judge and State Deepartment are just giving you the runaround. Not professional at all, unethical phonies up there yet getting paid top tax dollars to CHEAT the American people.

Long called the Demoncrap party (the communist party of America) to be banned. Government shrunk down to size. This is abuse of power and why you always want small government EVERYWHERE..

27633171
27633171
5 years ago

The State Department has been notorious since the days of Joseph McCarthy as a hotbed of Communists and Communist sympathizers. One would have thought that Mike Pompeo would have cleaned it out but it appears that they have burrowed their way in too deeply to be removed. Hillary used her illegal server to beat FOIA requests and now they simply lie to the judges to avoid them. Folks, we have allowed ourselves to be hoodwinked by a group of dedicated criminals for too long and it appears that the worst is yet to come.

Willik
Willik
5 years ago

Is the true justice system finally catching up with this harridan? If so, where are the indictments?

A LOT of smoke but exposing the fire seems to be beyond true justice’s abilities.

WM1
WM1
5 years ago

Okay, I get it Judge. They lied. So what happens now? When will they be held accountable for lying to the court?

created4el
created4el
5 years ago

One has to wonder where is Jeff Sessions on this matter? How is it his staff is still not cooperating with FOIAs? Why are they still playing their shell games and protecting Clinton and Obama? (It’s obvious that these people need to be removed!) The judge needs to take these “lawyers” to task and the Senate must take Sessions to task if Sessions isn’t moving on these issues on his own.

harleycowboy
harleycowboy
5 years ago

So if the parties accused got off with false evidence can they be retried with the new evidence or is that double jeopardy?

Roland Deschain
Roland Deschain
5 years ago

It has been said many times and in many places. Lock her up!

dad1927
dad1927
5 years ago

old “bodybags” Clinton

jerrys
jerrys
5 years ago

WE, The American people must demand strict enforcement of our treason laws!

We are at war! The enemy is islam. giving aid and comfort to the enemy is clearly treason and until we see the traitors at the end of a rope there is not much hope for America to survive for its children.
The obama vomited his poison all across America and we may not survive that infection!

MAS
MAS
5 years ago

No! Shocker, NOT…

Ring me when she’s in shackles…

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