The ongoing release of emails from Huma Abedin demonstrate the cozy relationship the US State Department had with the Clinton Foundation/Clinton Global Initiative during the maladministration of Hillary Clinton. Another shoe dropped yesterday when Judicial Watch release an email that indicated officials of the Clinton Foundation/Clinton Global Initiative requested diplomatic passports.

Diplomatic passports, by law, are only issued to members of the US government, or private citizens serving on federal commissions like the American Battlefield Monuments Commission, and can only be used when traveling for official purposes AND representing the US government.

The diplomatic passport is issued to a Foreign Service officer or to a person having diplomatic status because he or she is traveling abroad to carry out diplomatic duties on behalf of the United States Government. As with an official passport, the diplomatic passport cannot be used for leisure travel. For this reason, diplomats are encouraged to obtain a regular passport before departing the United States for official duties.

There is another class of passport, the “official”, that is issued to government employees who are traveling on official business but are not representing the diplomatic interests of the US government and to family members of those traveling on official business. Diplomatic passports bring a lot of benefits — your baggage isn’t inspected a customs, you may go through a different security system before boarding an airplane — and perks. For instance, many airlines give free upgrades to diplomats, you can get consular plates for your car if you are staying abroad for a longer period, you and your residence have diplomatic immunity.

Long story short, there is no conceivable set of circumstances under which Band and his merry men could qualify for a diplomatic or even official US passports. But, as we know, in Clinton-world, rules are for the little people. Real players don’t have to worry about chickensh** like rules.

State is saying that this request is tied to Clinton’s trip to North Korea to try to obtain the release of two American journalists and they were never issued. One thing we have learned is that the State Department will tell any lie it feels necessary to protect the Clintons. As Bill Clinton’s trip wasn’t until August it is hard to credit this as passing the laugh test.

While we don’t know if they received them, we do know that Abedin said she’d make it happen and the subject was not brought up again. Draw your own conclusions from that.