The FBI denied a New York lawyer’s request for records on the Hillary Clinton email investigation on Monday, Aug. 29, saying that there is not enough public interest in the matter.
In an Aug. 28 letter responding to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, the agency wrote that Ty Clevenger, an attorney, has not “sufficiently demonstrated that the public’s interest in disclosure outweighs personal privacy interests of the subject.”
Clevenger, a lawyer known for going after wrongdoing committed by high-profile officials, requested documents from several federal agencies pertaining to the handling of emails by Clinton staffers and related matters. He was shocked by the FBI’s explanation for why his request was denied.
Democratic presidential nominee former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton with President Barack Obama during an election eve rally on Nov. 7, 2016, in Philadelphia, Pa. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)“I’m just stunned. This is exactly what I would have expected had Mrs. Clinton won the election,” Clevenger told the Washington Times.
“It looks like the Obama Administration is still running the FBI,” the lawyer added.
Clevenger filed the original FOIA request on March 7, 2017. The FBI responded with a letter dated Aug. 8, asking that he provide justification that “the public interest in disclosure outweighs personal privacy.”
Democratic presidential candidate former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton with President Barack Obama campaigning on July 5, 2016 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Getty Images)Clevenger wrote back baffled that he had to explain why his request pertained to public interest given that at the time of the inquiry Clinton “was the Democratic nominee for president of the United States, a former U.S. secretary of state, and a former U.S. senator.”
“As one would expect, the referral made national news,” he wrote in an Aug. 12 letter responding to the FBI, referring to a congressional request for the Justice Department to open a criminal investigation into Hillary Clinton.
Clevenger is no stranger to dealing with government officials. In the last year alone, he has forced two federal judges off the bench and indicted Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, according to a profile in Dallas Morning News.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton with President Barack Obama as he makes a statement in response to the attack at the U.S. Consulate in Libya on Sept. 12, 2012, in the Rose Garden. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)Clevenger is a self-described Republican, but the people he went after were both Republicans and Democrats.
“Here’s the bottom line: There are plenty of reprobates in both parties who seek and hold public office,” Clevenger wrote in a post on his blog.
“Equally repulsive are the blind idiots who think that people on their side of the aisle can do no wrong,” Clevenger added.
