A watchdog group filed an open records request to the State Department Wednesday for documentation that Hillary Clinton and her top aides sought the proper waivers and recusals when dealing with donors to her family's foundation.

Cause of Action, a nonpartisan government watchdog, filed the Freedom of Information Act request amid controversies over the frequency of contact between executives at the Clinton Foundation and senior officials at the State Department.

Alfred J. Lechner, Jr., president of the group, cited the agency inspector general's finding that only 53 percent of officials complied with a requirement to complete annual ethics training in 2012.

"These findings suggest that Department officials during Secretary Clinton's tenure did not take even their basic ethics responsibilities seriously," Lechner said.

"Americans have a right to know whether Secretary Clinton and her aides at the State Department flouted ethics requirements in order to grant special favors to Clinton Foundation supporters," he added.

A Republican National Committee request revealed that Clinton and many of her aides skipped the ethics courses they had been ordered to take as government employees.

Cause of Action sought documentation of any waivers staffers may have sought when dealing with foundation donors, among other records.