Hillary Clinton submitted a sworn statement to the State Department on Saturday, a day after the department was due to report to a federal court on legal developments surrounding the former secretary's records, a department spokesman told BuzzFeed News.
On Monday, the State Department submitted a sworn statement to a federal court from Hillary Clinton asserting that she had directed all emails on her private server that are public records to be turned over.
At the end of July, the court had asked for a response from the State Department by Friday, Aug. 7, as to several issues in the ongoing litigation brought by Judicial Watch. The group is seeking records, including emails hosted on Clinton's private server, from Clinton's time as secretary.
Among the responses sought by the court was the sworn statement from Clinton that she had produced "all responsive information" — as in, the relevant emails held on her private server.
Clinton's statement was not included in the State Department's initial response on Aug. 7, but it was included in a supplement submitted to the court on Monday.
However, reports over the weekend had thrown into question when the department received Clinton's statement. A spokesman told BuzzFeed News that, although submitted to court on Monday, that statement from Clinton had been received and was dated Saturday, Aug. 8.
Here's what happened, beginning with the July 31 order from the court, seeking a response from State by July 7:
As detailed in a letter from the State Department to Clinton's lawyer on Aug. 5, one of the court's requests was a sworn statement from Clinton that she had "produced all responsive information," presumably referring to emails on her private server:
On Friday, Aug. 7, the State Department filed its status report, as previously ordered by the court, stating that Clinton had not yet responded to the request:
Over the weekend, however, Politico reported that Clinton submitted her required certification on Friday, suggesting it went unnoticed initially. A Monday filing in the case, however, shows a Saturday, Aug. 8, declaration was submitted by Clinton:
Here is the appended declaration, which is dated Aug. 8.
A State Department spokesman told BuzzFeed News the signed declaration was received and dated Saturday, Aug. 8.
Politico previously had reported that "such a submission from the Clinton camp did arrive Friday, but wasn't immediately noticed because it went to someone who was on vacation."
However, State Department spokesman Alec Gerlach clarified, telling BuzzFeed News, "Former Secretary Clinton's lawyers on Friday emailed individuals at the Department who were taking time off, and it was not noticed until after we filed."
"The Department received the signed declaration dated Aug. 8 on Saturday," he stated.
David Kendall, Clinton's lawyer in the matter, did not respond to an email on Monday afternoon seeking comment on the timing of the declaration submission.