Powell, who was secretary of state when George W. Bush was president, said he told Clinton that his use of a personal account “vastly improved” communications within the department, which back then did not have an equivalent internal system.
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“We believe it is a victory for law and order to get Hillary Clinton under oath answering questions about the server setup and why she did it”, he said.
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. Late Friday afternoon, Judge Emmet Sullivan ruled that Judicial Watch will not be allowed to take Hillary Clinton’s deposition.
What a mess. And now we’ll probably never hear more tales about a shared dessert between Clinton, Powell, Condoleezza Rice, Madeline Albright, and Henry Kissinger.
Clinton has previously claimed that Powell used the same arrangement she did, but that turned out to be untrue.
Clinton has repeatedly cited Powell and other senior officials’ use of private email in an attempt to explain the controversy to voters.
The judge said Judicial Watch must submit its questions to Mrs Clinton by October 14 and gave her 30 days to respond.
According to The Times, Powell’s office said in a statement that he had “no recollection” of the alleged conversation between him and Clinton.
Powell used a commercially available email account for unclassified messages but used a secured State Department computer for classified material.
Mrs Clinton deleted another batch of emails because she said they were purely personal.
Mrs 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 Department of State over Clinton-era records. Sullivan noted in his ruling that Bentel has refused to cooperate with the State Department or the inspector general throughout its investigations of Clinton’s email use.
Earlier this month, Judicial Watch released a fresh batch of newly uncovered Hillary Clinton emails, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.
On the Clinton decision, Sullivan determined that Judicial Watch has the right to ask Clinton more questions because she “has not answered questions relevant to the limited scope of discovery authorized in this case”. As the Associated Press reports, that timetable could push Clinton’s answers beyond the November election.
Krongard shot down the notion that she was in line with her predecessors’ in using a private email account for State Department business.
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It said they ought to have been handed over to the State Department.
