Judicial Watch, the conservative watchdog group heavily involved in exposing Hillary Clinton’s private email server during the 2016 election, was denied access to additional documents surrounding Clinton’s tenure at the State Department Tuesday by a federal judge.

The judge ruled that the conservative group cannot have access to State Department records surrounding Clinton’s use of an unsecured private email server during her tenure as Secretary of State given that the documents in question do not show any evidence of government “malfeasance.”

“We remain curious about the documents,” Fitton said. “The PR effort remains troubling and something that we think is in the public’s interest to know.”

U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg, who reviewed the 30 disputed records privately, wrote:  “The Court … concludes that Judicial Watch has not provided a sufficient basis to believe that the information withheld by the State Department would shed light on any government misconduct.”

Judicial Watch claims “the records would purportedly illuminate the Department’s complicity in Clinton’s misuse of a private server or, alternatively, expose later discussions by State employees to create misinformation to minimize the public’s perceptions that conduct.”

While details surrounding the government’s internal deliberative process are not always disclosed under the Freedom of Information Act, Judicial Watch argues that the concealed records were part of an unlawful effort to cover up Clinton’s violation of record-keeping laws and policies.

[lz_ndn video=32023008]

“We remain curious about the documents … the PR effort remains troubling and something that we think is in the public’s interest to know,” Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton said, adding that his group is “evaluating the opinion and considering” taking the necessary steps to file an appeal.

This is not the first time Judge Boasberg has denied Judicial Watch access to documents surrounding Hillary Clinton’s emails and private server. In November of 2016, Boasberg ruled that he was “not inclined to agree to a timetable” for the release of FBI-recovered Hillary Clinton emails, which has stalled the release of the emails and allowed them to be slowly released over the next five years.

[lz_related_box id=”289106″]

Fitton indicated that the watchdog group will want President Trump’s Department of Justice to take a second look at their request.

Who do you think would win the Presidency?

By completing the poll, you agree to receive emails from LifeZette, occasional offers from our partners and that you've read and agree to our privacy policy and legal statement.

“We expect the Trump administration to be more transparent on this issue, since the last administration was completely lawless on this issue,” Fitton said.

Fitton added that going forward, Judicial Watch’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuits will continue on the Benghazi scandal and controversies from Clinton’s tenure at the State Department.

“In one of their last gasps of obstruction of justice, the Obama State Department continues to oppose court-ordered efforts to gather the facts from Secretary Hillary Clinton and her top aides about how their email practices violated the American people’s right to know what really happened in Benghazi,” added Fitton in a Newsmax op-ed.