Press Releases

Congressman Glenn Grothman (R-Glenbeulah) today questioned U.S. Department of State officials about the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) processes at the State Department during a House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform (OGR) hearing.

The Honorable Patrick F. Kennedy, undersecretary for management, The Honorable Janice Jacobs, transparency coordinator, Karin Lang, director, Executive Secretariat, and Clarence N. Finney, Jr., deputy director for correspondence, records and staffing division, Executive Secretariat, testified at the hearing about weaknesses in the FOIA operations at the State Department’s Office of the Secretary, especially in regards to Secretary Hillary Clinton’s emails.

Excerpts of Grothmans’s remarks:

“Did you talk to Secretary Clinton about Freedom of Information requests? Did this ever come up at all during your tenure?

“Is it true that you’re kind of just at the mercy of [Secretary Clinton’s] own statements that everything was turned over?

“There was nothing at the time, though, nothing in place to make sure that these records were maintained at the time Secretary Clinton was secretary?

“I think given our concerns, especially our concerns in regards to Secretary Clinton, the most important records are the records that show correspondence with her and people outside the building or outside the department.”

Click here to view Grothman’s full line of questioning.

Background:

From 2009-2013, the State Department lost countless federal records due to inadequate record-keeping practices by Secretary Clinton and her staff.

Due to this inadequate recordkeeping, hundreds of recieved FOIA requests go unfulfilled and it remains unclear whether those requesters will ever receive a full and complete response.

U.S. Rep. Glenn Grothman is serving his first term representing Wisconsin’s 6th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives.

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