Mario Anzuoni/Reuters
The families of two Americans killed at the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi are suing Hillary Clinton for their sons’ deaths and for allegedly defaming them in public statements. The lawsuit, filed Monday, claims that Clinton exercised “extreme carelessness” in dealing with “confidential and classified information” in her role as secretary of State. The families say her mishandling of the information contributed to the deaths of their sons—Sean Smith and Tyrone Woods—and two others at the Libyan consulate. Patricia Smith and Charles Woods claim the attack “was directly and proximately caused, at a minimum,” by Clinton’s controversial use of a private email server. The lawsuit states Clinton likely sent and received information about the whereabouts and activities of U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens, though no connection has ever been proven. Smith is a vocal supporter of Donald Trump and has spoken out against Clinton, including at the Republican National Convention last month. The suit also alleges that Clinton made “false and defamatory statements negligently, recklessly, and purposefully and/or intentionally with malice” in public remarks. Clinton has testified for hours before House committees over the attack, and faced an FBI investigation over her use of her private email server. A spokesman for Clinton wrote in a statement, “While no one can imagine the pain of the families of the brave Americans we lost at Benghazi, there have been nine different investigations into this attack and none found any evidence whatsoever of any wrongdoing on the part of Hillary Clinton.”