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November 2, 2016

ACLJ Files Federal Lawsuit Against Obama Justice Department To Unearth Information About The Meeting Between Attorney General Lynch And Former President Clinton On Airport Tarmac In June

WASHINGTON, Nov. 2, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), which has filed a number of federal lawsuits against the Obama Administration to obtain information through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, today filed a federal lawsuit in Washington, D.C. against the Department of Justice to unearth information about the June meeting between Attorney General Lynch and former President Clinton – just days before the Justice Department's Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) cleared former Secretary of State Clinton in a criminal probe concerning her unauthorized email server.

"The arrogance and inappropriate actions of the Obama Administration cannot go unchallenged and that is why we have gone to federal court today and filed this critical lawsuit," said Jay Sekulow, Chief Counsel of the ACLJ. "This Administration has gone out of its way to hide information from the American public – information that is extremely troubling. The stakes are high. The American people deserve a Justice Department with integrity. We must demand accountability for corruption. If we don't, a constitutional crisis is imminent. The corruption must have consequences."

The lawsuit filed today comes after the ACLJ sent FOIA requests to the Obama Justice Department and the FBI, demanding answers on how such a meeting was allowed to happen.

The FBI acknowledged the ACLJ's FOIA request, and even granted our request for expedited processing by determining that we had shown our requests concerned "[a] matter of widespread and exceptional media interest in which there exist possible questions about the government's integrity which affect public confidence." The Justice Department remained silent.

Then, last week, the FBI – a component of the Justice Department – revealed that it was reopening the underlying criminal investigation into the State Department email scandal.

And early this week, the FBI advised the ACLJ Government Accountability Project that "[n]o records responsive to your request were located."  The Justice Department completely ignored the ACLJ request for records.

In the complaint filed today, we are demanding the following information:

  • Any and all records containing the names of any DOJ official, staff or employee who participated in any discussion regarding the meeting between General Lynch and Bill Clinton that occurred on Monday, June 27, 2016, at Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix, Arizona.
  • Any and all records, communications or briefings prepared, sent, received or reviewed by General Lynch or any other DOJ official, staff or employee, at any time, containing any discussion of or in any way regarding the meeting between General Lynch and Bill Clinton that occurred on Monday, June 27, 2016, at Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix, Arizona.
  • Any and all records of any communication or briefing received by General Lynch, any DOJ official, staff or employee from Bill Clinton or his staff regarding the meeting between General Lynch and Bill Clinton that occurred on Monday, June 27, 2016, at Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix, Arizona, regardless of whether the communication or briefing was received before, during, or after the meeting.  
  • Any and all records of any communication or briefing prepared, sent, received or reviewed by General Lynch, her staff, or any other DOJ official or employee or any other person from June 13, 2016 to Sunday, June 26, 2016, containing any discussion of or in any way naming, regarding, involving or referencing Bill Clinton.
  • Any and all records of any communication or briefing prepared, sent, received or reviewed by General Lynch, her staff, or any other DOJ official or employee after the meeting on Monday, June 27, 2016, between General Lynch and Bill Clinton at Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix, Arizona, containing any discussion of ethics rules or DOJ Standards of Conduct governing attorneys in connection with the meeting or Lynch's relationship with Bill Clinton.
  • Any and all records of any communication or briefing prepared, sent, received or reviewed by General Lynch, her staff, or any other DOJ official or employee after the meeting on Monday, June 27, 2016, between General Lynch and Bill Clinton at Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix, Arizona, containing any discussion of the press, responding to the press, or the content of any press release or public statements in connection with the meeting.

Today's filing is the ACLJ's fourth major federal lawsuit filed against the Obama Administration over its corruption and failure to comply with the law.  We've filed eight FOIA requests demanding information from: 1) the Obama State Department about the Iran lie, 2) the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and its components about its "jihad" word purge, 3) the Department of Justice and the FBI over Attorney General Lynch's secret meeting on a plane with former President Bill Clinton, 4) the FBI and the DOJ regarding its decision to censor the Orlando jihadist's 911 transcript, 5) the State Department over its funding of an organization that was involved in an attempt to unseat Israel's Prime Minister, 6) the Obama State Department over its inaction on the ISIS genocide against Christians, 7) DHS and its components over the wrongful granting of citizenship to potential terrorists, and 8) the State Department over apparent pay-to-play collusion with the Clinton Foundation.

The ACLJ continues its ongoing litigation against the Obama Administration over the Iran lie, inaction on genocide, collusion with the Clinton Foundation, and now the secret meeting between Attorney General Lynch and former President Bill Clinton. The ACLJ is also winning in multiple federal lawsuits against the Obama Administration's IRS over its unlawful targeting of conservatives groups.

Led by Chief Counsel Jay Sekulow, the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), focusing on constitutional law, is based in Washington, D.C. and is online at www.aclj.org.

MEDIA CONTACTS: 
For Print: Gene Kapp
For Broadcast: Alison Geist or Anna Hutsell