Cooper Allen

USA TODAY

Patricia Smith and Charles Woods, the parents of two Americans killed in the 2012 attacks on a U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Hillary Clinton.

The lawsuit contends that "the deaths of Sean Smith and Tyrone Woods were directly and proximately caused by the negligent and reckless actions" of Clinton, who was secretary of State at the time. It goes on to specifically fault Clinton's use of a private email server while at the State Department, saying any information received or sent through her personal account was "compromised" and ultimately helped facilitate the attack.

The suit was filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., on Monday.

Smith and Woods are represented by attorney Larry Klayman, who has long targeted the Clintons, dating back to the administration of President Bill Clinton during the 1990s.

The lawsuit also alleges defamation by Clinton over her public statements about whether she'd attributed the attack to an anti-Muslim video in her discussions with family members.

Smith spoke at last month's Republican National Convention in Cleveland and delivered a blistering critique of Hillary Clinton's handling of Benghazi, where four Americans, including Sean Smith and Tyrone Woods, lost their lives.

"I blame Hillary Clinton personally for the death of my son," Patricia Smith said.

In a statement provided to The New York Times and NBC News, Clinton campaign spokesman Nick Merrill said of the lawsuit: “While no one can imagine the pain of the families of the brave Americans we lost at Benghazi, there have been nine different investigations into this attack and none found any evidence whatsoever of any wrongdoing on the part of Hillary Clinton.”

In June, House Republicans issued a report from a two-year investigation into the Benghazi attacks that cited the Obama administration for security lapses but revealed nothing particularly new about Clinton's handling of the matter.

The following month, FBI Director James Comey sharply criticized Clinton's use of private email servers while at the State Department as "extremely careless," but argued that she should face no criminal charges, a recommendation Attorney General Loretta Lynch soon after adopted.