Republican National Committee Sues for Clinton Aides' Email

The Republican National Committee sued the U.S. State Department seeking the release of years of records and emails from Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, her aides and associates.

The legal assault comes nine days after the State Department released the last of the more than 52,000 pages of messages stored on the former secretary of state's private email server.

A judge ordered those released in a separate case — one of more than a dozen lawsuits filed in relation to Clinton's emails and use of the private server.

"Clinton's actions while secretary of state — and the actions of those senior officials with whom she worked most closely and supervised — are manifestly relevant to whether she is fit to lead this country," the RNC said in the first of two complaints filed in Washington federal court Wednesday under the Freedom of Information Act.

The Clinton campaign didn't immediately respond to requests for comment, while the Department of State declined to comment.

Clinton is leading Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in the delegate count for her party's nomination.

Nonetheless, she had a surprise loss Tuesday in Michigan's primary, where CNN exit polls showed 56 percent of voters believe she is "honest and trustworthy," compared with 81 percent who believe that of Sanders.

The number of voters rating her as honest decreased following revelations that she used a private email server during her time as the U.S.'s top diplomat.

FOIA Requests

The RNC said the records were requested under FOIA in October and December, but the State Department hasn't responded to them.

"The Obama administration has failed to comply with records requests in a timely manner as required by law," RNC Chairman Reince Priebus said in a emailed statement.

"If this administration claims to be the 'most transparent in history,' and Clinton the 'most transparent person in public life,' then they should prove it, release these records, and allow the American people to hold her accountable."

One request covers communication between State Department officials and individuals through domain names associated with Clinton, including those of political action committees and her campaign website.

The second is for text and BlackBerry Messenger messages as well as emails to and from key senior aides, including Huma Abedin and Bryan Pagliano, who helped set up Clinton's server.

The Justice Department granted Pagliano immunity from prosecution for his cooperation with an FBI investigation into Clinton's handling of classified information.

"Time is of the essence," the RNC said in the complaint, which seeks to have the sought-after documents no later than July 1, "in time for the Democratic National Convention."

The cases are Republican National Committee v. U.S. State Department, 16-cv-460 and 16-cv-461, U.S. District Court, District of Columbia (Washington).