The judge’s ruling greatly diminishes the chance that Clinton will be forced to briefly abandon her campaign for the presidency in order to testify under oath about her use of a private email server while at the State Department – a move that could prove to be politically damaging to the Democrat’s standing in the election.
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In 2014, she gave the State Department roughly 30,000 emails from her private server, which she said were work-related.
Sullivan heard arguments on the deposition requests at a lengthy motion hearing in July.
Before it’s here, it’s on the Bloomberg Terminal.
A headline in the section on August 20 declared: “Colin Powell: Former Secretary of State Confirms He Recommended Using Personal Email to Hillary Clinton”.
They had asked for a three-hour window to question her, less than the seven hours they were given to question several current and former State Department officials last month.
Unlike Clinton, Powell relied on a commercially available service to host his personal email account.
Republicans have pressed to keep the issue of Clinton’s email use alive after the FBI closed its investigation last month without recommending criminal charges, though the State Department has now reopened its investigation into the matter.
Judicial Watch’s president, Tom Fitton, praised the judge’s decision in a statement.
Mrs. Clinton exclusively used the email account tied to a server she kept at her home in NY for her government business.
Such an order was passed by the US District Judge Emmet G Sullivan as part of a lawsuit filed against Clinton by Judicial Watch, which had sought permission to question the former secretary of state under oath and in person.
In turn, it gives Clinton 30 days to provide her answers.
Clinton has apologized for exclusively using the private email account and her own server during her time as secretary of state from 2009 to 2013.
The State Department confirmed in a recent court filing it will release all of the deleted work-related emails that the Federal Bureau of Investigation recovered from Mrs Clinton’s private system.
Lawyers for the group argued that Clinton and her aides had not yet explained why the private server network was maintained long after they learned the State Department discouraged such a practice.
Sullivan also allowed Judicial Watch to get sworn testimony from a former State Department official named John Bentel. The conservative watchdog group wanted to depose Clinton in person, but the judge ruled written answers would be just fine.
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The FBI’s production of documents to Congress has been criticized by Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA), who said the Bureau has “improperly” limited access to its files – producing an absurd situation where Hillary Clinton can’t be prosecuted for her actions, but congressional staffers who talk about her actions will be prosecuted.
