In the wake of Hillary Clinton’s emails scandal, Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus is planning to investigate whether she violated the State Department’s "Separation Statement."
The RNC has called on the department to probe whether the former secretary of state had signed the form declaring that she had returned all official documents when she left the office in 2013, according to
Politico.
"Hillary Clinton clearly violated the spirit of the 'Separation Statement' that she compelled all other department personnel to sign," Priebus said.
"While the State Department has failed to answer whether she signed the agreement herself, it cannot ignore a request under the Freedom of Information Act.
"The RNC intends to learn whether Clinton violated State Department guidelines in not signing the statement, or if she signed it making a false statement, and as a result, violated the law.
"We will exhaust all administrative options and will consider potential legal action if the State Department fails to comply with this request."
The RNC sent an FOIA request to State on Tuesday, asking for a copy of any "Separation Statement" that the potential Democratic presidential nominee had possibly completed and signed, Politico reported.
The official form includes a declaration that the departing employee "has surrendered to a responsible official all unclassified documents, and papers relating to the official business of the Government."
"I don't have an update on this," said State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki about whether Clinton had signed such a statement. "We're still working on it. I understand why you're asking. We're looking to get an answer. I don't have an answer today."
Submitted by RNC Research Director Raj Shah, the FOIA request also wants the "Separation Statement" from three former top aides to Clinton — Chief of Staff Cheryl Mills, Deputy Chief of Staff Huma Abedin and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Philippe Reines.
The scandal erupted when it was revealed that instead of employing a secure State Department account to send emails, Clinton had used a private email account from a homemade server during her four-year tenure at the agency.
Following a request from State, the former first lady recently gave the department 30,000 emailed documents, totaling 55,000 pages, related to government business during her time in the Obama administration.
Clinton has indicated that she deleted about 32,000 other emails that she deemed personal and confidential, according to Politico.
The RNC also submitted a separate request to State for the records about "the configuration, vetting, and/or encryption of Secretary Clinton's personal BlackBerry and private email server," and whether she was granted an exemption from regular State policies in order to maintain the device and the server.
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