The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, chaired by Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, called the hearing to examine the preservation of State Department records in its on-going efforts to investigate the former secretary of state’s use of a private server.
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But never before had he simply refused to testify, a point that the Republicans on the committee emphasized as they argued that Pagliano had flouted the law, while Democrats contended that the hearing could have led to self-incrimination and breached the limits of his reported immunity deal with the F.B.I. But he said he was aware of many failed log-in attempts that he described as “brute force attacks”.
Pagliano had previously pleaded the Fifth Amendment in September 2015 when he was called before the congressional committee investigating the attack in Benghazi, Libya that resulted in the death of Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans. So let’s go, I’ve signed this subpoena.
Combetta, who Cummings said was granted limited immunity by the Justice Department for his cooperation in the probe, told the Federal Bureau of Investigation he was aware of a congressional order to preserve documents but had not received any specific guidance about it.
Following the decision, the agency sent an explanatory letter to the House Oversight Committee along with materials from the investigation. To take effect, a contempt resolution must be approved by the committee and the full House, after which the matter would move to the USA attorney for the District of Columbia.
NEW YORK, Sept 13 Two computer technicians declined to answer questions from USA lawmakers on Tuesday about the unauthorized private email system that Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton used during her tenure as US secretary of state.
A Bill Clinton aide said he had no security clearance when he was tasked with setting up the Clintons’ private email address.
Bryan Pagliano’s absence is likely to add fuel to a raging debate about Clinton’s own transparency as she enters the final stretch of the U.S. presidential elections.
Republicans have said the committee is looking into special treatment of a presidential candidate by the government, while Democrats have said the committee is trying to tarnish their nominee.
Combetta took the Fifth six times and Thornton took the Fifth four times, before both were excused.
Last month, Republican congressional leaders subpoenaed Platte River Networks and two other companies after they declined to provide information on Clinton’s email system voluntarily to lawmakers.
One witness, Justin Cooper, a former White House aide to President Bill Clinton, is answering the committee’s questions.
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Cooper attorney Howard Shapiro did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
