Clinton camp appeared to have contacts with DOJ on email case

[MikeWB]

An official within Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign appeared to have discussions with sources inside the Department of Justice (DOJ) about ongoing open records lawsuits regarding the former secretary of State's emails, according to an email released on Tuesday.

In an email from May 2015, Clinton campaign spokesman Brian Fallon said that "DOJ folks" had "inform[ed]" him about an upcoming status conference in one of the lawsuits regarding Clinton's private email setup.

ADVERTISEMENT
The information about an upcoming court event would have been public knowledge and open for all to attend. And it's unclear whether the people Fallon spoke to at the Justice Department were officials who regularly communicate with the public.

However, the fact that Fallon — a former spokesman with the Department of Justice — remained in contact with anyone from the department is likely to renew allegations that the Obama administration maintained an especially cozy relationship with the former secretary of State's presidential campaign.

On Tuesday, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump said the connection was "unbelievable."

    Wow. Unbelievable. https://t.co/RcBPCcmwnD
    — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 11, 2016

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/785863826361184257

The email "shows a level of collusion which calls into question the entire investigation into her private server," Trump spokesman Jason Miller said in a statement on Tuesday.

"The Department of Justice must release all communications with the Clinton campaign and her allies as soon as possible in order to definitively prove their investigation was completely above board."

The email from Fallon was contained in a collection of more than 1,000 messages allegedly stolen from campaign chairman John Podesta and posted to WikiLeaks on Tuesday.

Trump may be pointing to the message in an effort to redirect attention to the email release, following an increasingly bitter split from top leaders in the Republican Party and intense scrutiny on videotaped comments that appeared to show the nominee bragging about sexual assault.

Trump and other critics of the administration have lambasted the Justice Department for its decision not to press charges against Clinton or her allies for mishandling classified information. They were especially incensed by an apparently impromptu June meeting between Attorney General Loretta Lynch and former President Bill Clinton on the tarmac at the Phoenix airport.

The criminal investigation connected to Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server was separate and distinct from the myriad open records lawsuits filed in federal court accusing the State Department of unfairly withholding material related to Clinton's time in office. Critics have accused the department of dragging its feet in response to those demands.

Personal lawyers for Clinton have been involved in some of the Freedom of Information Act lawsuits, but her campaign has not been involved.

https://twitter.com/tom_winter/status/785845815373856768