Goodlatte & Judiciary Republicans Call for Independent Investigation of Special Treatment Given to Key Clinton Insiders

DOJ and FBI allowed immunized witnesses to represent Secretary Clinton during her interviewWashington, D.C. – House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) and all Republican members of the House Judiciary Committee today called for an independent investigation of the special treatment given to key witnesses during the investigation of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s unauthorized use of a private email server to send and receive classified information. Cheryl Mills and Heather Samuelson, top advisors to Secretary Clinton during her tenure at the State Department, were witnesses in the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s investigation of Secretary Clinton’s unauthorized use of a private email server and had previously been interviewed by the FBI. Although Secretary Clinton had legal representation from a prestigious law firm, the Justice Department and FBI allowed Mills and Samuelson to sit in on the Bureau’s interview of Secretary Clinton, even though there was a clear conflict of interest and both received immunity deals. In a letter to the Inspectors General for the Justice Department and State Department, Chairman Goodlatte and the Republican members of the House Judiciary Committee call for an independent investigation into the matter and write

“Ms. Mills and Ms. Samuelson were responsible for culling and shredding documents related to Secretary Clinton’s tenure and, whether willfully or inadvertently, are responsible for the destruction of evidence and official records. As such, they were key witnesses who could not have ethically provided legal representation to Secretary Clinton after their departure from the State Department.“The evidence plainly demonstrates that Ms. Mills and Ms. Samuelson’s claims of attorney-client privilege in the Clinton email investigation are wholly without merit.  It appears increasingly clear that political considerations hijacked the criminal process in this case, and routine, longstanding policies and procedures were ignored.  As such, we request that you open an investigation into this matter at your respective Departments.” 

The letter is signed by Chairman Bob Goodlatte, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) and Reps. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.), Lamar Smith (R-Texas), Steve Chabot (R-Ohio), Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), J. Randy Forbes (R-Va.), Steve King (R-Iowa), Trent Franks (R-Ariz.), Louie Gohmert (R-Texas), Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), Ted Poe (R-Texas), Tom Marino (R-Pa.), Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.), Raul Labrador (R-Idaho), Blake Farenthold (R-Texas), Doug Collins (R-Ga.), Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.), Mimi Walters (R-Calif.), Ken Buck (R-Colo.), John Ratcliffe (R-Texas), Dave Trott (R-Mich.), and Mike Bishop (R-Mich.). Below is the text of the letter. The signed copy can be found here.

October 11, 2016 Dear Inspector General Horowitz and Inspector General Linick: In continuing the House Judiciary Committee’s ongoing oversight of Secretary Clinton’s unauthorized use of a private email server to send and receive classified information, we write to question the propriety, impartiality, and legality of circumstances surrounding the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Department of Justice (DOJ) interview of Secretary Clinton.  The FBI and DOJ appear to have acquiesced in allowing two former State Department employees, Cheryl Mills and Heather Samuelson, to act as legal counsel for Secretary Clinton in order to influence an investigation into facts for which the former employees were substantially and personally involved.  However, neither the FBI nor DOJ are in a position to investigate their own actions in connection with the Clinton interview, thus making this a tailor-made case for independent review. We are particularly concerned by the fact that Ms. Mills and Ms. Samuelson, both of whom participated personally and substantially in matters that were the subject of the FBI’s investigation, were permitted by both DOJ and the FBI to sit in on Secretary Clinton’s interview.  Ms. Mills and Ms. Samuelson were fact witnesses who had previously been interviewed by the FBI regarding the setup of Secretary Clinton’s private server, theirs and Secretary Clinton’s communications, and their own familiarity with classified information sent via unsecure means during Secretary Clinton’s tenure.  Allowing them to sit in on Secretary Clinton’s interview raises questions as to whether a serious interview of Secretary Clinton was ever even contemplated.  In fact, it offered Ms. Mills and Ms. Samuelson an opportunity to further corroborate their stories with the target of the FBI’s investigation – Secretary Clinton – and have insight into questions being asked of Secretary Clinton regarding communications to which they may have been parties. We are also very concerned about the FBI and DOJ’s acceptance of Ms. Mills and Ms. Samuelson’s assertions that they were serving as Secretary Clinton’s attorneys.

• Did the FBI ask for an engagement letter?

• Did the FBI probe into when the attorney-client privilege purportedly began?

• Does the FBI have any record of investigating or internally deliberating on the patently absurd claim of attorney-client privilege?

• Did the FBI ever ask whether either Mills or Samuelson had professional liability insurance?

• Did the FBI consider whether 18 U.S.C. § 207 applies to the inappropriate representation of former Secretary Clinton by former State Department employees “personally and substantially” involved in matters pertaining to the Clinton investigation?

• Did the FBI ever broach the subject of a conflict of interest with Ms. Mills and Ms. Samuelson, or contemplate the fact that their representation of Secretary Clinton as counsel in her interview was a clear violation of long-standing canons of professional ethics?

Not only did Secretary Clinton have able-bodied counsel from Williams & Connolly, a very prestigious law firm, but Ms. Mills and Ms. Samuelson are not practicing attorneys in any sense of the term.  Illustrative of the incongruous declarations of attorney-client privilege are current biographies of both Ms. Mills and Ms. Samuelson.  Ms. Mills’ biography on the website for the BlackIvy Group, where she is currently CEO, states that she was Chief of Staff and Counselor during Secretary Clinton’s tenure, neither of which are attorney positions.  In fact, the current Counselor of the Department, Ambassador Kenney, is not an attorney, and only one of the previous five Counselors of the State Department even possessed a law degree. Similarly, Ms. Samuelson’s public LinkedIn profile lists, after her time spent on the 2008 Clinton campaign, “Senior Advisor/White House Liaison” at the State Department for the period of January 2009 to March 2013, corresponding with Secretary Clinton’s tenure.  This was also not an attorney position.  It seems clear that neither Ms. Mills nor Ms. Samuelson can credibly claim that they had an attorney-client relationship with Secretary Clinton while employed at the State Department.  Rather, it is the duty of the Department’s Office of the Legal Adviser to “furnish[] advice on all legal issues, domestic and international, arising in the course of the Department’s work.” Ms. Mills’ profile at her current company indicates that she now sits on the Board of the Clinton Foundation.  DOJ and the FBI have yet to confirm whether the Clinton Foundation is under investigation for pay-to-play allegations and inappropriate foreign donations, but if it is the case that the Clinton Foundation is an FBI target, Ms. Mills’ presence in the interview with Secretary Clinton is even more disconcerting considering her role on the Clinton Foundation’s Board. Suffice it to say, neither Ms. Mills nor Ms. Samuelson are currently practicing law in their post-State Department jobs, except for the specious claim of representing Secretary Clinton in an FBI criminal probe for which they were key players and witnesses.  Ms. Mills and Ms. Samuelson were responsible for culling and shredding documents related to Secretary Clinton’s tenure and, whether willfully or inadvertently, are responsible for the destruction of evidence and official records. As such, they were key witnesses who could not have ethically provided legal representation to Secretary Clinton after their departure from the State Department. The evidence plainly demonstrates that Ms. Mills and Ms. Samuelson’s claims of attorney-client privilege in the Clinton email investigation are wholly without merit.  It appears increasingly clear that political considerations hijacked the criminal process in this case, and routine, longstanding policies and procedures were ignored.  As such, we request that you open an investigation into this matter at your respective Departments. Thank you for your attention to this important matter. Sincerely,

Bob Goodlatte	Jason Chaffetz
Louie Gohmert	Lamar Smith
Steve Chabot	Blake Farenthold
Mimi Walters	Mike Bishop
Jim Sensenbrenner	Trent Franks
Steve King	Darrell Issa
Jim Jordan	Raul Labrador
Doug Collins	Trey Gowdy
John Ratcliffe	Ron DeSantis
Ken Buck	Tom Marino
Dave Trott	Ted Poe
J. Randy Forbes