To suggest in her Federal Bureau of Investigation interview, as the New York Times has reported, that Powell had advised her to use a private email account as secretary of state, as he had done while serving as the nation’s top diplomat, is a sneaky way of trying to say there was an ethical and legal equivalence to their email practices.
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Powell, through a spokesman, said he doesn’t remember the dinner party conversation, but added he did use a private email account for unclassified communications with other department employees because no official system existed for such messages when he had the job.
A US federal judge has ruled that Democratic Party candidate Hilary Clinton does not need to give sworn testimony in a lawsuit concerning her use of an unauthorized private email system for her as US Sec of State.
Tom Fitton, President of Judicial Watch, stated that the questions would be submitted with the greatest speed possible.
In a separate development Friday, former Secretary of State Colin Powell said he once sent Clinton a memo touting his use of a personal email account for work-related messages after she took over at the State Department in 2009.
In Mrs. Clinton’s case, the practice has created particular controversy because of her family’s foundation and its donors who had varying political and business interests while Mrs. Clinton was secretary of state. “He used a secure State computer on his desk to manage classified information”. If she sticks with it, J.W. will no doubt depose Colin Powell and expose her lying under oath.
The General no longer has the email he sent to former Secretary Clinton.
“But Clinton will not be forced to sit for questions under oath from the conservative group Judicial Watch, avoiding a media firestorm”.
Democratic candidate for President Hillary Clinton greets supporters at a Hillary for America rally at John Marshall High School on August 17, 2016 in Cleveland, Ohio.
CNN has reached out to the Clinton campaign and has not yet received a response. But the judge said putting a former Cabinet secretary under oath in person was too burdensome, when written questions would suffice – and he insisted Judicial Watch be careful about how far it goes. “The decision is a reminder that Clinton is not above the law”, he said.
The group also wanted to depose Clarence Finney, an official in the State Department’s Freedom of Information Act office, but that request was denied. The group sued the State Department for relevant documents.
“Judicial Watch is a right-wing organization that has been attacking the Clintons since the 1990s”.
He gave the group until October 14 to give Clinton the questions, and she has 30 days to answer them.
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They cover Clinton’s first three months as secretary of State in early 2009, a period for which Clinton did not turn over any emails to the State Department past year.
