Obama Administration Bars Release of Clinton's TPP Emails Until Post-Election

While Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton has publicly reversed her position on the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), it remains unknown how much she helped advance, or even craft, the international trade deal while serving as U.S. Secretary of State—and the Obama administration appears interested in keeping it that way.

On Monday, International Business Times (IBT) senior editor David Sirota reported that the State Department is refusing to release correspondence between Clinton’s State Department office and the United States Trade Representative related to the TPP until after the 2016 presidential election.

After initially saying that the requested materials would be made available in April, a U.S. State Department representative “abruptly” told Sirota last week, “Our office was recently informed that the search process has been completed and that the information located from that search is currently being prepared for the review process. The new estimated completion date for your request is November 31 [sic], 2016.”

At the intersection of the 2016 presidential contest, Clinton’s ongoing email scandal, and the contentious TPP negotiations, the contents of these emails are considered to be of public interest.

As Sirota notes, “IBT’s request was designed to provide a comprehensive view of how involved Clinton and her top aides were in shaping the trade agreement, and whether her agency had a hand in crafting any particular provisions in the pact.”