WASHINGTON -- A U.S. District Court judge threw out a lawsuit against former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that sought to blame her for deaths of two people during the attack on the U.S. embassy in Benghazi, Libya.

Judge Amy Berman Jackson on Friday rejected allegations stemming from Clinton's use of private email server and that Clinton lied to the relatives of those killed in Benghazi.

Lawyer Larry Klayman, a frequent Clinton critic, filed the lawsuit last August on behalf of Patricia Smith and Charles Woods. Their sons, Sean Smith and Tyrone Woods, were among the four Americans killed in the terrorist attack, along with U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens.

Smith attacked Clinton from the podium at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland a month earlier.

They charged that terrorists learned about the Stevens' whereabouts because Clinton's email system was hacked.

"The untimely death of plaintiffs' sons is tragic, and the court does not mean to minimize the unspeakable loss that plaintiffs have suffered in any way," Jackson said.

At the same time, "Secretary Clinton was acting in her official capacity when she used her private email server to communicate with State Department personnel about State Department business," Jackson said.

While the lawsuit also claimed Clinton lied to the parents of the victims when she said a controversial anti-Muslim video led to the attacks, the judge said there was no evidence "Clinton defamed them, put them in a false light, or intentionally inflicted emotional distress."

"To the contrary, the statements portray plaintiffs as normal parents, grieving over the tragic loss of their loved ones." Jackson said.

Several Republican-led investigations in Congress found no wrongdoing on Clinton's part, and the Senate Intelligence Committee said the demonstrations about the video were mentioned in initial intelligence reports.

In addition, then-FBI Director James Comey said there was no "direct evidence" that anyone gained access to Clinton's server, but acknowledged that the agency "would be unlikely to see such direct evidence."

Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant or on Facebook. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.