Obama White House Knew About Clinton Emails Years Earlier Than Previously Admitted

WASHINGTON—Top officials working in the White House for President Barack Obama knew Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was using a private email system for official government business three years before it became public, according to documents obtained by Judicial Watch. “WH [White House] called – have we received a FOIA request from CREW (Citizens for Responsible Ethics in Washington) on the topic of personal use of email by senior officials? “Apparently other agencies have. If we have it, can you give me the details so I can call the WH back? I think they’d like it on quick turnaround. Thanks! Sheryl,” read a Dec. 20, 2012 email from Sheryl L. Walter, who was then director of the Department of State’s Office of Information Programs and Services (IPS). Her email was addressed to several of her subordinates. She was referring to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request her office received from Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), which, like Judicial Watch, is a Washington, D.C.-based non-profit that advocates for transparency in government.

In the same email thread, Walters forwarded the CREW request to Heather Samuelson, who was then Clinton’s liaison to the Obama White House. “Hi Heather – Copy attached, it was in our significant weekly FOIA report that we send to L and S/ES also. Do you want us to add you to that list? It’s a subset of things like this that we think likely to be of broader department interest. More detail below re this request. “As a practical matter given our workload, it won’t be processed for some months. Let me know if there are any particular sensitivities. If we don’t talk later, happy holidays! All the best, Sheryl,” Walter told Samuelson. The email was among 44 pages of documents in the latest batch Judicial Watch has obtained in discovery ordered by U.S. District Court Judge Royce C. Lamberth.

There are multiple references among the documents that indicate White House knowledge of Clinton’s non-secure email use, according to Judicial Watch. In a Jan. 10, 2013, email, for example, Walter asked Samuelson if she had determined whether other agencies received the CREW request. Samuelson responded that “White House Counsel was looking into this for me. I will circle back with them now to see if they have further guidance.” Walter’s office told CREW on May 10, 2013, that “no records responsive to your request were located.”

Ultimately, it became known that Clinton had generated more than 50,000 non-secure emails to and from other U.S. government officials and private individuals. “These documents suggest the Obama White House knew about the Clinton email lies being told to the public at least as early as December 2012,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton in a statement Friday. “A federal court granted Judicial Watch discovery into the Clinton emails because the court wanted answers about a government cover-up of the Clinton emails. And now we have answers because it looks like the Obama White House orchestrated the Clinton email cover-up,” Fitton said. Lamberth called Clinton’s use of the non-secure email system based in her home “one of the gravest modern offenses to government transparency.” Federal law and regulations require all federal employees to use secure government communications systems for official business, especially when transmitting classified information and documents. If using a private email or text message system is unavoidable, employees are required promptly to provide copies to agency officials.If using a private email or text message system is unavoidable, employees are required promptly to provide copies to agency officials. If using a private email or text message system is unavoidable, employees are required promptly to provide copies to agency officials.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/obama-white-house-knew-about-clinton-emails-years-earlier-than-previously-admitted_2919450.html

HRC emails 44pgs

http://www.judicialwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/JW-v-State-HRC-emails-WH-01242-3.pdf

Dems fume as Trump moves to amend DC's July 4 celebration, possibly address the nation

President Trump has apparently taken charge of this year’s Fourth of July celebration in Washington, D.C., and will possibly give a personal address, angering some Democrats who fear the president will politicize the holiday. City officials in the nation's capital were notified of Trump’s plan to address the nation on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and move the traditional fireworks display from the Capitol Reflecting Pool to the nearby West Potomac Park, the Washington Post reported.

But the plans, which the administration says will allow more people to attend, have raised logistical concerns among officials as they make preparations for the holiday, which is fast approaching. “We have a lot of people come to the Fourth of July. Logistically, over the years, the kinks have been worked out,” Mayor Muriel Bowser told the Post. “We don’t want to throw off what already works.” The move to amend the July 4 celebrations in Washington comes after Trump floated the possibility of holding a military parade, an idea he got when he attended Bastille Day celebrations in France.

But the military parade idea was dropped after senior White House and Pentagon leaders estimated it would cost $92 million. “When asked to give us a price for holding a great celebratory military parade, they wanted a number so ridiculously high that I cancelled it. Never let someone hold you up!” Trump tweeted.

Trump’s plans are being criticized not only for imposing a burden on the city logistically, but also for political reasons. Rep. Betty McCollum, a Minnesota Democrat who chairs the House Subcommittee on Interior, Environment and Related Agencies, told the newspaper that Trump’s address would undermine the spirit of the celebration.

“It’s not about any one president. It’s about how our nation came to be, because of a hardy band of brave men and women,” she said. “It’s not about any one person, it’s about ‘We, the people.’ And if the president moves to make this about him, I think he will find the America public disappointed and angered by it.”

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/dems-fume-as-trump-moves-to-amend-july-4-celebrations-address-the-nation