Clinton emails found on Anthony Weiner's laptop CAN be made public, Federal judge says - but says it might take FIVE YEARS before all the documents are released
- Judge James Boasberg said on Monday the emails could be disclosed
- They will probably go from FBI to the State Dept, which will process them
- But it may take 5 years for all emails - including Weiner's - to be processed
- Judicial Watch is suing the State Dept for access to the pre-Weiner emails
- It says if the FBI won't hand Wiener docs over to State Dept, it will sue them
Warning: Judge James Boasberg (pictured) said that the recently discovered Clinton emails could be opened up to the public - but warned it could take five years to do
Emails regarding Hillary Clinton's time as secretary of state found on Anthony Weiner's laptop can be made public, a Federal judge said Monday - but he warned the process could take five years.
During the hearing, it was said that the FBI would most likely release the documents to the State Dept, which is the subject of existing Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuits targeting the other emails.
But US District Judge James Boasberg wasn't happy that it might take five years for all Clinton emails to be cleared for the public by the State Dept.
'I'm not satisfied saying, "Fine, go ahead and take five years,"' he said, according to US News.
Things are still extremely uncertain with regard to the Weiner files.
Trouble: The renewed probe into Clinton's email server caused trouble for her campaign. The FBI is expected to hand the new emails to the State Dept, which will prepare them for release
Justice Department attorney Lisa Olson told Boasberg that the State Dept believes it has a standing request with the FBI to receive additional Clinton documents.
But she added that it doesn't yet have the 650,000 Weiner emails, which are believed to have been sent between his wife, Clinton aide Huma Abedin and the Clinton server.
If it does get them, she said, she 'assumes' that they will be reviewed for possible disclosure.
And the State Dept is the subject of a number of FOIA suits from conservative transparency organization Judicial Watch, which will demand the files.
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Judicial Watch attorney Chris Fedeli said the group would sue the FBI as well if the documents were not handed over to the State Dept, but felt confident that they would be.
However, questions remain about how long it will take for all of the Clinton emails - including Weiner's - to be made public.
Boasberg suggested it might take five years, based on how fast the State Department is currently processing them.
Investigated: The emails were found on the laptop of ex-Rep Anthony Weiner. Judicial Watch is suing the State Dept for the non-Weiner emails
That's just an estimate, though, and could change depending on how many pages long each email and its associated documents are, and whether there are total or partial duplicates among the emails.
Boasberg acknowledged that he couldn't force the FBI to hand the documents over to the State Dept, but scheduled a meeting on November 29 anyway, to review progress.
The Weiner emails were discovered by FBI agents during a separate investigation into sexts sent by Anthony Weiner to an underage girl, exposed by DailyMail.com.
The FBI was looking for child pornography on his laptop at the time. Weiner has denied the charges.
On October 28, FBI director James Comey announced that the Bureau was reopening the Clinton email server probe - which accused her of using a private server to send classified information - thanks to the newly found emails.
That announcement rocked the Clinton campaign, and has been linked to poll gains made by rival Donald Trump in the last two weeks.
Comey said Sunday that the FBI had reviewed the emails and would not change his July recommendation to not charge Clinton with mishandling classified information.
Closed: FBI director James Comey said that he wasn't changing his July recommendation that Clinton not be charged Friday. The FBI went through the 650,000 Weiner emails in a week
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