Clinton must instead respond in writing within 30 days to questions submitted by Judicial Watch, a group that has always been critical of her conduct and which is suing the State Department over Clinton-era records. The group has until October 14 to submit the questions and Clinton must respond to them within 30 days. Should Judicial Watch wait until the last minute to submit its queries – an unlikely scenario – Clinton will have the opportunity to respond after the election.
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Obviously, her written answers are going to be as unresponsive as she can get away with. These are basically question sheets that Clinton is required to answer truthfully.
In a statement provided to the AP, Powell said he emailed Clinton describing his use of a personal AOL account for unclassified messages while leading the State Department under President George W. Bush.
Former US Secretary of State Colin Powell says he did email Hillary Clinton to let her know about his use of a private email account during his time in the job.
The group, Judicial Watch, was hoping the judge would order Clinton’s testimony after filing a request for its Freedom of Information Act suit last month.
Powell has said he had no choice besides using his private account as the department did not have a fully functioning email system of its own when he joined in 2001. But try as she might, the e-mail scandal (and the shenanigans with The Clinton Foundation) just won’t go away even with the mainstream media square in her corner.
Interestingly, news came out today that Clinton told Federal Bureau of Investigation officials that former Secretary of State Colin Powell advised her to use personal email.
He used a secure department computer to manage classified information, the statement said.
Judge Sullivan’s ruling opened another front in a fight Clinton’s campaign certainly hoped to put behind her.
Michael Bekesha, the lawyer for Judicial Watch, insisted there were outstanding questions that only Clinton could answer about why she set up the server, and argued there would be value in having her testify to those motivations under oath.
Judicial Watch, a conservative public interest law firm that has been trying to pry loose numerous details about Mrs. Clinton’s time as State Department secretary, had wanted in-person testimony, saying that was the only way to handle follow-ups that might arise based on what she says. As the IG report explained, by the time Clinton arrived in 2009, “the Department’s guidance was considerably more detailed and more sophisticated” because the security risks were better known.
Already as a part of this case Judicial Watch has deposed senior officials and aides who worked for Clinton during her tenure at the State Department, including Abedin, Cheryl Mills, Patrick Kennedy and Bryan Pagliano.
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Sullivan ordered the State Department to turn over remaining emails responsive to Judicial Watch’s request by September 30.
