No proof Hillary, aides completed ethics training at State Department

There is no written evidence that Hillary Clinton or her top aides completed ethics training when they started working at the State Department, even though it’s required by federal law, according to a report released Thursday.

Records show that just three of nine top Clinton aides took the mandated training for new employees. The records also suggest that neither Clinton nor seven top aides required to take subsequent annual training completed it.
Many of the aides — including Cheryl Mills, Huma Abedin and Jake Sullivan — hold key positions with the Democratic nominee’s presidential campaign.
The documents were obtained by the Republican National Committee, which sued to get them after a Freedom of Information Act request proved fruitless, the McClatchy news company reported.
The Trump campaign was quick to pounce.
“Hillary Clinton and her aides reportedly skipped their ethics training. That would make sense, since Hillary was planning a criminal enterprise trading government favors for cash,” said Stephen Miller, the GOP nominee’s national policy director, referring to ties between the State Department and the Clinton Foundation.
A State Department rep said the lack of documents doesn’t necessarily mean that Clinton and her staffers skipped the training, but offered no evidence that they took it.
“We would caution against drawing any conclusions simply from the absence of documentation provided in response to a FOIA request,” said spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau.
Despite releasing the documents, department officials said the Privacy Act prevented them from confirming whether employees completed training.
Clinton reps didn’t return two requests for comment.
As secretary of state, Clinton was responsible for establishing, maintaining, and carrying out the department’s ethics and financial disclosure programs.

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