Blackburn Demands FTC Probe into Clintons Sham Charity

Watchdog seeks to depose 7 Clinton aides Texas Insider Report: WASHINGTON D.C.  This discovery will help Judicial Watch get all of the facts behind Hillary Clintons and the Obama State Departments thwarting of FOIA so that the public can be sure that all of the emails from her illicit email system are reviewed and released to the public as the law requires said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. The request guarantees action by no later than April 15th to determine how the groups lawsuit will proceed.    Judicial Watch on Tuesday named seven aides to Hillary Clinton that the group is seeking to depose in federal court. The request comes as part of a lawsuit the watchdog group has filed in an effort to obtain records on Huma Abedin who served as Clintons deputy chief of staff during her tenure as secretary of state. Those aides are:

1. Patrick F. Kennedy an undersecretary for management
2. Donald R. Reid a senior security coordinator for infrastructure
3. Bryan Pagliano an IT assistant who helped to set up Clintons personal server
4. Stephen D. Mull and
5. Lewis A. Lukens high-level officials at State during Clintons tenure
6. Cheryl D. Mills Clintons chief of staff; and
7. Huma Abedin (with Sect. Clinton right)

Additionally Judicial Watch is requesting that the State Department name its own expert witness who can speak to how the agency has processed Freedom of Information Act requests pertaining to Clinton and Abedin.

If the depositions requested by Judicial Watch give rise to a reason to depose Clinton the group said it reserves the right to do so. If Judicial Watch believes Mrs. Clintons testimony is required it will request permission from the court at the appropriate time the group said.

Tuesdays filing comes after a February ruling by Washington D.C. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan that allowed Judicial Watch to proceed with discovery related to efforts by Clinton and her staff to undermine federal record-keeping laws in addition to a work arrangement that allowed Abedin to work for a consulting firm concurrently with her job at the State Department. The State Department has until April 5 to respond to Judicial Watchs request after which the group will have 10 days to issue a response of its own. Sullivan will rule on April 15 about whether Judicial Watch can proceed as it has requested. Lawmaker demands FTC probe into Clintons sham charity A House Republican lawmaker is planning to ask the Federal Trade Commission to take a cue from law enforcement by looking into the Clinton Foundations nonprofit status and is calling the foundation a sham charity. The letter which is being circulated by Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and which was obtained by the Washington Examiner asks the FTC to investigate the charitable status of the group due mainly to the criminal probe announced by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in January. That agency is seeking to determine whether public corruption laws were violated when Hillary Clinton worked for the foundation at the same time she served as secretary of state.

The FTC has a history of investigating sham charities for false and deceptive statements and should initiate a review of the Foundation Blackburn wrote.

The conservative firebrand added that the group already has a tumultuous with both the FTC and the Better Business Bureau. The latter said in 2013 that the Clinton Foundation failed to meet its transparency and accountability requirements while the FTC had the group on a watch list until December of last year. The FTC has also declared itself unable to rate the foundation because of what it calls an atypical business model. Additionally Blackburn (right) noted the foundation has also had a problem with reporting its finances. The organization failed to report millions of dollars it received in grants from foreign governments when Clinton served as secretary of state. CEO Maura Pally said the grants were mistakenly combined with other donations while former President Bill Clinton called it just an accident.

These are troubling developments. They call into question the legitimacy of the Foundations work as it operates under a cloak of philanthropy Blackburn said.  The existence of a federal criminal probe should alarm the Commission which initiates civil actions requiring a lower standard of proof. These allegations may stifle the ability of other organizations associated with current or former public officials to advance charitable causes by undermining public confidence in such institutions the congresswoman concluded.  Consistent with the FTCs mission and precedent we request that you review the above allegations to determine if the Foundation is a sham charity.

The letter will ask the FTC to respond within 30 days.