Feds to process emails from Clinton aide Abedin for release

The State Department has agreed to comb through 29,000 pages of emails from a top aide to Hillary Clinton and release batches of those emails every month.

In a federal court filing on Monday, the department said it would process at least 400 pages of emails from Huma Abedin’s personal, non-government email account per month. 

{mosads}The searches come as part of a lawsuit launched by conservative watchdog organization Judicial Watch, which has embarked on a flurry of legal actions related to Clinton and her top aides.

The rolling production schedule will begin on March 1, the court said, with a goal of handing over all of the emails that pertain to Judicial Watch’s Freedom of Information Act request by April 30, 2017.  

While at least 400 emails will be processed per month, fewer might be released if they do not meet the terms of Judicial Watch’s request. It’s unclear if the full batch of 29,000 pages of emails will be released. 

The agreement is likely to lead to new scrutiny on Abedin, who served as Clinton’s deputy chief of staff while she was secretary of State.

Like Clinton, who is running for president, Abedin used a personal email address throughout her tenure at the State Department, to the frustration of conservatives and transparency advocates. Unlike Clinton, Abedin also used a government account that ended in state.gov.

She has come under a microscope from critics of Clinton, including prominent lawmakers on Capitol Hill. 

Judicial Watch has sued the State Department to force many of her emails into the public domain, as well as for information about her unusual employment status that allowed her to work for the government and an outside consulting firm at the same time. 

The court agreement was previously reported by Politico. 

– This story was updated at 1:22 p.m.