A conservative watchdog group sued the State Department Wednesday over records related to a pair of security contracts awarded by the agency under Hillary Clinton's watch.

Citizens United first sought documentation of talks between State officials, a lobbying firm called DLA Piper and a security contractor called Triple Canopy through a Freedom of Information Act request filed in August 2014.

The group sued the State Department after the agency ignored its FOIA request for 10 months. Citizens United had previously worked with State to narrow the scope of its inquiry, to no avail.

David Bossie, president of Citizens United, noted the group's interest in the arrangement is less about the substance of the security contracts and more about the cozy relationships that might have helped Triple Canopy obtain them.

"Like a lot of people, we are running down leads and trying to conduct our own investigation, and this is part of that process," Bossie said.

The Triple Canopy case is one of several FOIA lawsuits that Citizens United has filed as it prepares production of a sequel to its 2008 documentary, "Hillary: The Movie."

"There's a lot of smoke here," Bossie said. "The State Department has not been forthcoming."

"When left to their own devices, State Department bureaucrats have taken over three years to respond to Citizens United's FOIA requests," the group's legal team wrote in court documents filed Wednesday over the Triple Canopy request.

A spokesman for Triple Canopy "categorically denied" that the firm had received any contracts from the State Department through political influence.

One of the contracts in question was a $708 million deal with the State Department, signed in September 2010, to provide guard services in Iraq, according to InsideGov.

The other was a $52.4 million contract with the agency, also for security services in Iraq. The April 2011 contract was not competitively bid due to the "urgency" of the State Department's need.

In 2010, Triple Canopy paid DLA Piper $220,000 for lobbying services, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. In 2011, the firm paid $240,000 for DLA Piper's services.

Some of those lobbying efforts were directed at the State Department. Among those tasked with lobbying for Triple Canopy's interests were Matthew Bernstein and John Merrigan, lobbying disclosure forms show.

Both reportedly bundled enormous sums for Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign and, in past years, had helped DLA Piper secure meetings with the then-senator on behalf of foreign governments, according to filings.

DLA Piper has been a major Clinton Foundation donor, giving between $50,000 and $100,000 to the charity.

"This is about lobbyists ... potentially using donations to gain access, whether it was prior gifts to the campaign or to the foundation," Bossie said of the court case.

The State Department has faced an enormous surge in FOIA lawsuits following revelations about foreign donations to the Clinton Foundation and Clinton's use of a private email and server to shield her government communications.

A Triple Canopy spokesman noted State "has been Triple Canopy's largest customer for more than a decade" and said the firm has become the agency's largest provider of security guard and patrol services.

"This relationship spans the tenures of four secretaries of state who have served two successive presidents," the firm's spokesman said. "To suggest that political favoritism had anything to do with any contract award is grossly insulting to the thousands of Triple Canopy employees who have put themselves in harm's way, sometimes at the cost of their own lives, to protect America's diplomats in some of the most dangerous parts of the world. We are proud of our reputation for providing superior service at a fair price – a reputation we have earned, not bought."

This story had been updated to include comments from a Triple Canopy spokesman.