WikiLeaks emails show plot to embarrass Issa
Reps. Elijah Cummings and Darrell Issa
Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images
On the right, Chairman Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista, cuts off ranking member Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Maryland, on the left, during a hearing of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on March 5, 2014 in Washington, DC.
On the right, Chairman Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista, cuts off ranking member Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Maryland, on the left, during a hearing of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on March 5, 2014 in Washington, DC. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images)
Joshua Stewart
Last March as former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was under attack for using a private email server her aides hatched a plan to embarrass some of her critics, and Rep. Darrell Issa was in their cross-hairs.
The Vista Republican was fresh off a four-year stint as chairman of the House Government Oversight and Reform Committee where he oversaw the investigation on the deadly attacks in Benghazi, Libya. Clinton’s use of a private email server to conduct government business became an issue.
Issa and other Republicans attacked Clinton for that and argued that her decision to store her correspondences outside of a government network sidestepped the Freedom of Information Act, a law that lets the public review government documents from the executive branch.
As Issa and other Republicans stressed the importance of transparent government, Clinton’s confidants developed a plan to make them look like hypocrites for maintaining a provision in FOIA that makes Congress’ documents, including emails from representatives and senators, exempt from public scrutiny.
It doesn’t appear that they ever moved forward with the plan.
The details were included in emails from Clinton adviser and campaign manager John Podesta that were obtained and published by WikiLeaks.
Issa’s campaign did not reply to questions about the Democrats’ discussion, but the congressman released a statement Friday morning in response to the FBI’s decision to resume the case into Clinton’s use of a private email server.
“This decision shows exactly why we need strong watchdogs in Congress to ensure thorough oversight of the executive branch,” he said. “The federal government constantly needs to be held accountable to curb poor judgment — like using a private server to circumvent federal records laws — and incomplete investigations that fail to deliver justice and erode public faith in government.”
In the WikiLeaks emails, a Clinton’s aide said it is hypocritical that members of Congress pushed for an open executive branch, but kept their own business away from public inspection.
In this Oct. 4, 2016 file photo, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange participates via video link at a news conference marking the 10th anniversary of the secrecy-spilling group in Berlin.
AP Photo/Markus Schreiber
In this Oct. 4, 2016 file photo, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange participates via video link at a news conference marking the 10th anniversary of the secrecy-spilling group in Berlin.
In this Oct. 4, 2016 file photo, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange participates via video link at a news conference marking the 10th anniversary of the secrecy-spilling group in Berlin. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
“In the course of this we discussed an ironic hypocrisy that we believe the public would benefit in knowing before judging anyone’s intentions and practices: Congress is exempt from FOIA. Because Congress exempted itself from FOIA,” Clinton aide Philippe Reines wrote.
In an email to prominent lawyer Abbe Lowell, counsel to House Democrats during Bill Clinton’s impeachment proceeding, Reines suggested getting Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Maryland, a member of the Oversight Committee and frequent Issa adversary, to introduce legislation that would end Congress’ exemption to FOIA, or “tee up some good government group” to make a point about it. He also suggested approaching the chairman of the House Select Committee on Benghazi, Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-South Carolina, and the new chairman of the Oversight Committee, Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, to co-sponsor the bill.
“I’m sure the leadership wouldn’t appreciate giving up the carveout,” he wrote, referring to the exemption, “but chances are it would reach the floor anyway.”
To highlight that members of Congress champion transparency, as long as they can remain opaque themselves, Reines suggested that they also file a series of FOIA requests just to watch them go unfulfilled.
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Issa, other Republicans on the oversight committee and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, were all targeted for possible FOIA requests with the expectation that they would be dismissed.
“All those who pound their chests about the public’s right to know how their government functions. Just not their ? of it,” Reines wrote.
Reines also wrote that there was a reporter — the journalist was not named — he thought would be very interesting in covering the Republican’s response.
It’s not clear what happened to the plan discussed in the emails, but FOIA has subsequently been amended. In June, President Barack Obama signed the FOIA Improvement Act, a bill that included provisions from House legislation Issa and Cummings introduced. The law says the executive branch should presume that documents should be made public and requires government agencies to justify why some requested documents should be withheld. It also requires routine disclosures while conducting everyday business, requires agencies to update their FOIA regulations, and allows more oversight of efforts to make sure FOIA provisions are followed.
The law doesn’t eliminate exemptions for Congress, however.
Issa praised the bill when Obama signed it into law.
“This critical update to the Freedom of Information Act is a major milestone that enshrines into law the people’s right to know what their government is actually doing,” he said. “It’s a significant step forward to the accountable government the people deserve.”
Twitter: @jptstewart
joshua.stewart@sduniontribune.com |
