Clinton’s emails, which were turned over to the State Department in December, became the subject of intense interest after it was revealed in March that Clinton used only a private email account hosted on a private server during her entire tenure at the State Department.
In Monday’s court filing, John Hackett, who heads the State Department’s Freedom of Information Act division, said that processing the emails for release is slow-going because the agency has to consult “a broad range of subject matter experts within the department and other agencies as well as potentially foreign governments.”
He also stated that a team consisting of a project manager, two case analysts, and nine FOIA reviewers are working exclusively on the Clinton email project.
In March, State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said that the email review would take “several months.”
According to Vice, the Clinton email team has had to scan 12 “bankers’ boxes” worth of printed emails. The team has met “daily since April to implement and oversee this large undertaking,” Hackett said.
Since October, the State Department has received 14,000 new FOIA requests and is “currently engaged in nearly 80 FOIA litigation cases.”