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“Clinton’s actions while Secretary of State — and the actions of those senior officials with whom she worked most closely and supervised — are manifestly relevant to whether she is fit to lead this country,” the RNC wrote in its complaint. | AP Photo RNC sues for emails of Clinton's State Dept. aides

The Republican National Committee on Wednesday filed two lawsuits in federal court seeking records and emails of Hillary Clinton and her colleagues at the State Department.

The first suit seeks electronic records sent to and from Clinton via text or Blackberry Messenger and emails to senior aides. The second suit seeks communications between senior State Department officials, Clinton’s presidential campaign and other Clinton allies after her time at State.

“The Obama Administration has failed to comply with records requests in a timely manner as required by law,” RNC Chairman Reince Priebus said in a statement. “For too long the State Department has undermined the public and the media’s legitimate right to records under the Freedom of Information Act, and it’s time it complies with the law. If this administration claims to be the ‘most transparent in history,’ and Clinton the ‘most transparent person in public life,’ then they should prove it, release these records, and allow the American people to hold her accountable.”

Dozens of lawsuits have been filed regarding Clinton’s email scandal stemming from her four years as secretary of state, including a Citizens United suit that was filed earlier this week.

The State Department has finished posting its trove of Clinton emails that were ordered to be publicly released, but other messages are still rolling out as part of other lawsuits. Clinton also must contend with an FBI investigation into her unusual email setup, in which she exclusively used a homebrew server and private email account during her tenure at the State Department.

The Clinton campaign dismissed the latest lawsuits as another effort by Republicans to damage her campaign.

“This frivolous lawsuit is just another attempt by Republicans and right-wing groups to try to hurt Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign because she is the candidate they fear the most in a general election,” Clinton press secretary Brian Fallon said in a statement. “It is not going to work.”

Priebus contended that litigation was the organization’s last resort and added that news outlets such as the Associated Press, Gawker and Vice, for example, have sought public records from State to no avail.

“This is something that’s epidemic at the State Department. It’s not just the RNC,” Priebus told CNN. “It’s everywhere, and they’re not complying with anything. Nobody’s getting any information whatsoever.”

RNC communications director Sean Spicer told CNN in a separate interview that American voters deserve to know what was said in Clinton’s emails and questioned whether she was lawful or if there were any cover-ups or collusion.

“We need to let the American know what actually occurred during her tenure as secretary of state — whether anything nefarious went on, whether there was a cover-up,” Spicer said. “All of these things are relevant to her fitness to be president of the United States.”

Both of the RNC’s cases were filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., under the Freedom of Information Act. The RNC said the State Department records were requested in October and December under FOIA, but no records or information have been distributed.



“FOIA was intended to inform and educate citizens about their government and elected officials,” the RNC said in a statement. “Disclosure of the records requested in these lawsuits would carry out that purpose. The RNC seeks records that will ensure that the public has information to consider whether former Secretary Clinton is fit to serve as the next President of the United States.”