Emails Show Clinton Fund Adviser Sought Diplomatic Passport

A key figure in the Clinton Foundation requested special diplomatic status from the State Department when it was led by Hillary Clinton, The New York Times reports, citing the latest batch of State emails released by right-wing group Judicial Watch.

The 500 pages of correspondence made public Thursday include a July 2009 request from Douglas Band to Huma Abedin, Ms. Clinton’s deputy chief of staff at State, for diplomatic passports for himself and two other people connected to the Clinton Foundation. Mr. Band is a longtime aide to former President Bill Clinton and helped launch the Clinton Global Initiative.

Ms. Abedin emailed back, “OK will figure it out,” but the State Department never issued the passports. The request was likely related to Mr. Clinton’s emergency trip to North Korea at that time to negotiate the release of two American journalists being held there. Ms. Clinton, the Democratic presidential nominee, has come under fire over contacts between her office and her family’s charity during her tenure as secretary of state.