









2008

December: President Obama nominates Hillary Clinton for secretary of state.

2009

Jan. 13: Reports say the clintonemail.com domain was established.

Jan. 21: Senate confirms Clinton as secretary of state.

March 18: Clinton will later name this as the date she began using a private server for government business.

2012

Sept. 11: Islamic extremists launch the terrorist attacks on U.S. compounds in Benghazi, Libya, killing Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.

October: Clinton convenes Accountability Review Board (ARB) to investigate State Dept. actions surrounding Benghazi.

After the ARB and Congress call for Benghazi-related documents, top Clinton aides Cheryl Mills and Jake Sullivan are allegedly present at a document sorting session in the basement of the State Dept., according to Deputy Assistant Secretary Raymond Maxwell, who later told me he witnessed the operation. No law enforcement body contacted or interviewed Maxwell.

Nov. 7: Judicial Watch files Freedom of Information (FOI) Act request with State Dept. for Benghazi-related emails and other information.

December: I (then at CBS News) file a Freedom of Information Act request with the State Dept. for Benghazi-related emails and other information. A response is due within about 30 days under the law. However, it is not provided.

Dec. 10, 2012: Clinton cancels a trip due North Africa and the mideast to "illness" and a "bug." State Dept. does not disclose she has fallen and received a head injury.

Dec. 13, 2012: State Dept. discloses that Clinton had "fallen" while suffering from a stomach virus sometime the previous week and gotten a "concussion" that was "not severe." Bill Clinton would later say that her injury "required six months of very serious work to get over."

Clinton postpones imminent Congressional testimony which had been scheduled.

Dec. 18-19: Clinton writes Congress promising to implement ARB recommendations and ARB officials provide briefing on their findings.

Judicial Watch files another FOI request with State Dept.

Dec. 30: State Dept. discloses discovery of "blood clot" in Clinton's head from the concussion.

2013

Jan. 7: Clinton returns to work after her concussion.

Jan. 23: Clinton testifies to Senate Foreign Relations Committee and House Foreign Affairs Committee where she utters her infamous “What difference, at this point, does it make?” comment.

Feb. 1: Clinton leaves State Dept.

Feb. 25: Judicial Watch files two lawsuits against State Dept. for failing to lawfully respond to FOI requests.

March 22: "Guccifer" hacks Clinton's emails via Clinton aide's account. This showed that Clinton had received sensitive, confidential information on what was later revealed to be the private server she improperly used for government business.

August: Congress subpoenas Benghazi documents.

Nov. 26: State Dept. tells me (then at CBS News) that it has posted all documents responsive to my Benghazi FOI request from Dec. 2012. This was later proven untrue since Clinton had withheld many documents, and also the State Dept. provided additional responsive documents to me in April of 2016, three and a half years late.

2014

May 5: Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., is named head of the House Benghazi Committee to investigate the 2012 terrorist attacks.

May 8: House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, formally announces formation of House Benghazi Committee.

June 13: Judicial Watch files a FOI request with State Dept. seeking Benghazi information and Clinton notes.

August: State Dept. provides House Benghazi Committee with eight emails to or from Clinton that, for the first time, show her use of a private email account.

Sept. 4: Judicial Watch sues State Dept. for failure to respond to a June 13, 2014 FOI request seeking Benghazi records and Clinton notes.

Sept. 17: House Benghazi Committee holds its first public hearing. Topic: implementation of ARB recommendations.

October: State Dept. sends letters to Clinton and her three predecessors as secretary of state seeking work emails related to personal accounts.

Nov. 18: House Benghazi Committee makes additional request for Clinton emails from State Dept.

Nov. 26: President Obama signs into law an updated Federal Records Act requiring public officials to forward all work-related email to their government address.

December: House Benghazi Committee sends request to the White House for documents and communications pertaining to Benghazi.

Dec. 5: Clinton privately turns over copies of 30,490 “work-related” emails to the State Dept. totaling 55,000 printed pages. No date has been provided as to when she deleted her “private” emails, but it is presumed to be around this time frame.

Dec. 10: House Benghazi Committee holds second public hearing. Topic: implementation of ARB recommendations.

2015

Jan. 27: House Benghazi Committee holds third public hearing. Topic: federal agencies’ poor response to document requests and subpoenas.

February: White House and House Benghazi Committee meet to discuss Dec. 2014 document request. White House eventually produces 266 pages.

Feb. 13: State Dept. produces 300 emails to and from Clinton, but no other documents responsive to the House Benghazi Committee's broader Nov. 18, 2014 request for all emails to and from Clinton and her senior staff.

Late Feb.: In discussions, the State Dept. informs the House Benghazi Committee that Clinton did not have a government email address, and that it had never had possession of her emails until her attorney first turned them over—in paper form—to the State Dept. in Dec. 2014.

March 2: New York Times reports Clinton may have violated federal regulations by using personal email account hdr22@clintonemail.com for public business as secretary of state.

March 4: Associated Press reports that Clinton’s personal email address traces to private email server at her Chappaqua, New York home registered under pseudonym.

House Benghazi Committee privately issues two subpoena: one for emails from Clinton’s personal account, the other for documents it requested in Nov. 2014 (but did not receive) relating to 10 senior State Dept. officials.

Clinton does not disclose the subpoena but tweets, “I want the public to see my email. I asked State to release them. They said they will review them for release as soon as possible.”

March 10: Clinton answers questions about her email practices for the first time. She tells reporters:

It was more convenient to use the private server.

“I wanted to use just one device for both personal and work emails instead of two.”

Last year, she deleted nearly 31,000+ emails that were “private.”

She will not turn over her personal email server.

She “fully complied” with the law.

She has turned over to the State Dept. 55,000 pages of work-related emails.

There were 62,320 emails in her account: 30,490 were public business; 31,830 were private.

March 11: Associated Press sues State Dept. for Clinton emails and documents not provided under FOI request.

April 12: Clinton announces she’s running for president.

April 15: Nearly two years after Congress first issues subpoena for ARB documents, the State Dept. produces 1,700+ pages.

April 23: State Dept. produces an additional 2,500 pages of ARB documents.

House Benghazi Committee writes Clinton’s personal attorney to reiterate its “request for her to turn over the server to a neutral, third party, such as an inspector general.”

April: White House produces 266 pages of documents including emails to and from National Security Staff. House Benghazi Committee sends White House another letter reiterating and refining its Dec. 2014 request for additional documents.

April 30: House Benghazi Committee announces the State Dept. has provided 4,000 more pages of documents, for the first time related to the ARB’s work.

Judicial Watch announces a lawsuit to release documents regarding Clinton’s use of iPhone or iPad for official business.

May 5-6, 2015: Judicial Watch files seven new FOI lawsuits related to Clinton’s use of private email server, seeking emails of her top aide Huma Abedin and records about Benghazi and the Clinton Foundation.

May 8: House Benghazi Committee releases interim report:

It has received 20,000+ pages of new emails and documents from State Dept. for the first time including emails to or from Clinton.

It has held 24+ classified and unclassified briefings with the Administration and Executive Branch agencies.

May 22: State Dept. releases 296 Benghazi-related emails from Clinton’s private email account.

Week of June 16: House Benghazi Committee deposes Clinton confidant Sidney Blumenthal behind closed doors in a deposition nearly nine hours long.

June 22: House Benghazi Committee releases 60 emails sent to Clinton by Blumenthal, including some regarding Libya.

June 25: State Dept. provides House Benghazi Committee with some subpoenaed Benghazi-related emails that that Clinton had not turned over previously.

July 7: House Benghazi Committee releases news of Clinton subpoena (from last March) for the first time.

July 23: The New York Times reports that two Inspectors General have asked the Department of Justice to investigate whether Clinton mishandled sensitive government information.

July 28: Clinton revises her statement regarding classified email to say she is confident she never sent or received emails that were classified at the time.

July 31: The federal judge in a Judicial Watch FOI suit, Emmet Sullivan, orders State Dept. to request that Clinton and top aides Cheryl Mills and Huma Abedin confirm, under penalty of perjury, that they have produced all government records in their possession, return any other government records immediately, and describe their use of Hillary Clinton’s email server to conduct government business.

Aug. 5: State Dept. sends letter to Clinton including Judge Sullivan’s order.

Aug. 6: Cheryl Mills' attorney tells Judicial Watch it has instructed Mills to “delete any and all electronic copies [of potential federal records] in her possession” after her anticipated production of records on Aug. 10. Judicial Watch files an emergency request to block the destruction.

Aug. 11: Inspector General report to the Senate contradicts Clinton claims; some Clinton emails, says the IG, contained information that was classified at the time.

FBI takes custody of Clinton server and thumb drives.

Aug. 12: Clinton campaign strikes back as her poll numbers falter, including using the Media Matters blog to print her talking points attacking news reports on NBC and Fox. The blog uses other left-wing Astroturf outlets such as "Vox" as supposed support for its claims.

Aug. 15: In a campaign appearance at the Iowa State Fair, Clinton revises her statement about classified email a second time, stating that she never sent or received any that were "marked" classified.

Aug. 19: Clinton's personal lawyer tells a Senate committee that all data, including emails, was erased from her server prior to it being turned over to the FBI.

Clinton tells reporters the investigation surrounding her server “has nothing to do with me.” She contradicts the Inspector General by reiterating that she never sent or received classified material.

Aug. 20: State Dept. tells Judge Sullivan Clinton did not use State Dept. issued or secure Blackberry device; Blackberries used by Clinton aides Cheryl Mills and Huma Abedin were likely destroyed.

Aug. 27: Appearing to read from notes, Clinton told an Iowa audience that using a personal email server "...clearly wasn't the best choice..I take responsibility..." She repeated her modified statement, “I never sent nor received any e-mail that was marked classified. [emphasis added]”

Aug. 31: State Dept. publicly releases 7,000 pages of Clinton emails. Among other revelations, they show that Freedom of Information (FOI) law was violated since responsive emails had not been provided earlier under various FOI requests. Documents can be found by visiting the State Dept. FOI page and searching "Hillary Clinton."

Sept. 3: Former Clinton Chief of Staff Cheryl Mills testifies to House Benghazi Committee behind closed doors.

Former Clinton campaign staffer and State Dept. official Bryan Pagliano, who helped set up Clinton's personal server, tells Congress he will plead the Fifth Amendment and refuse the Congressional subpoena to testify.

Sept. 4: Former top Clinton aide Jake Sullivan testifies to House Benghazi Committee behind closed doors.

Sept. 8: A day after saying she had nothing to apologize for, Clinton says she's "sorry" in an interview with ABC News.

Sept. 10: Pagliano takes the Fifth in a private meeting before the House Benghazi Committee.

Sept. 25: AP reports Obama administration has found work emails between Clinton and Gen. David Petraeus that she did not turn over. The dates call into question Clinton's claim that she turned over all work related emails from her home system.

The State Dept. says it's sending the House Benghazi Committee 925 more Clinton Benghazi and/or Libya-related emails that were not previously turned over.

October: Previously withheld Clinton emails reveal Clinton told daughter Chelsea almost immediately that terrorists were behind the Benghazi attacks, yet told the public they were prompted by a protest over a YouTube video.

Oct. 22: Clinton testifies before House Benghazi Committee for approximately 11 hours.

Oct. 23: Wikileaks emails indicate Clinton campaign chair John Podesta meets for dinner with a small group in New York including top Justice Department official Peter Kadzik.

Nov. 30: State Dept. releases 8,000 more Clinton emails; some of the emails received "classified" markings.

2016

Jan. 15: The Inspector General for the intelligence community Charles McCullough tells members of Congress that several dozen additional classified emails have been identified in Clinton's stash, including some with a higher classification than top secret, regarding highly sensitive programs.

April: The State Dept. provides a partial response to the Benghazi FOI request I filed in 2012 (that was due within about 30 days). It primarily consists of condolence letters sent to the U.S. from other countries.

May: FBI interviews Clinton aide Cheryl Mills around this time, according to reports. Mills reportedly leaves interview abruptly when certain questions are asked, but then returns and finishes the interview.

May 25: A report from the Inspector General for the State Department finds Clinton personally violated federal records law, that there were attempts to hack into her system, that some Clinton aides also used personal email accounts exclusively for government business and did not fully cooperate with the IG investigation and that Clinton failed to turn over all of the emails she was required to turn over to investigators.

June 27: Attorney General Loretta Lynch and former President Bill Clinton secretly meet at a Phoenix airport, just days ahead of Hillary's interview with the FBI. Hillary Clinton says the meeting was "a short, chance meeting" and "purely social."

July 1: Amid controversy over Lynch's meeting with Bill Clinton, she publicly agrees to accept whatever recommendation the FBI makes on the Hillary Clinton email case.

July 2: Hillary Clinton is questioned at FBI headquarters for 3-1/2 hours.

July 5: FBI Director James Comey recommends no charges in Clinton's email case. Though he says there was "extreme carelessness" and the agency found evidence of possible violations of law on Clinton's part, it concludes no reasonable prosecutor would bring a case because theres no clear evidence of intent.

Aug. 28: It's revealed that Anthony Weiner, the husband of top Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin, has been allegedly sending sexual text messages from home including, allegedly, to an underage girl. He had previously lost his Congressional seat in in 2011 and his race for New York City Mayor in 2013 due to a similar scandals. Abedin announces her separation from Weiner.

October: Wikileaks begins posting a series of emails from the account of Hillary Clinton campaign chair John Podesta. The emails show a great deal of consternation among Clinton officials over her email situation and over possible ethics conflicts inside The Clinton Foundation.

Oct. 28: FBI Director Comey sends Congress a letter indicating that new emails relevant to the Hillary Clinton investigation may have been found on a computer shared between Anthony Weiner and his wife, Huma Abedin.

Oct. 30: Sources tell reporters that roughly 650,000 emails on Weiner's computer must be examined for possible links to the Clinton email case. FBI sources tell officials and reporters there is an active investigation into The Clinton Foundation.

Nov. 6: FBI Director Comey notified Congress that the agency has completed its review of the 650,000 emails from the Weiner computer, examining all of the ones to or from Hillary Clinton, and the decision not to prosecute stands.