Emails revealed during a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit brought by Judicial Watch show a corrupt relationship between the Clinton Foundation and the Hillary Clinton-led US State Department.

The 44 emails disclosed by the lawsuit were not among the 55,000 pages of emails former Secretary Clinton had turned over to the State Department from her private email server.

Donors to the Clinton Foundation received special favors from the State Department, and in some cases, the emails even used the word “favor” to describe the conduct. The go-between was often Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin, who relayed messages and instructions between former Secretary Clinton and executives at the Clinton Foundation.

In one case, Abedin and Clinton aide Cheryl Mills helped a billionaire donor to the Clinton Foundation, Gilbert Chagoury, get a meeting with the US Ambassador to Lebanon:

In April 2009, Douglas J. Band, who led the foundation’s Clinton Global Initiative, emailed Ms. Abedin and Cheryl D. Mills, another top adviser to Mrs. Clinton, for help with a donor.

Mr. Band wrote that he needed to connect Gilbert Chagoury, a Lebanese-Nigerian billionaire who was one of the foundation’s top donors, with someone at the State Department to talk about his interests in Lebanon.

“It’s jeff feltman,” Ms. Abedin answered, referring to Jeffrey Feltman, who was the American ambassador to Lebanon at the time. “I’m sure he knows him. I’ll talk to jeff.” Mr. Band asked her to call Mr. Chagoury immediately if possible. “This is very important,” he wrote.

Band also lobbied for a Clinton Foundation associate (whose name was redacted in the documents) to get a job at the State Department, noting that it was “important to take care of.” Abedin emailed back, “We all have him on our radar. Personnel has been sending him options.”

So much for meritocracy. If anything, the guiding principle at the Clinton State Department seems to be pay-to-play.

During his congressional testimony about Hillary Clinton’s other email improprieties, FBI Director James Comey dodged questions about whether there was an open investigation into the Clinton Foundation. The FBI is, in all likelihood, currently investigating the Clinton Foundation, but is not expected to complete the investigation until well after the presidential election.

The conduct described in the emails fits a historical pattern, in which Hillary Clinton and her staff peddling influence in exchange for money. If Clinton is elected president, expect more of the same.