According to USA officials briefed on the investigation, Huma Abedin and other close aides to Hillary Clinton have been interviewed by the FBI as part of the probe into Clinton’s use of a private email server.
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‘Maybe she won’t even be able to run, ‘ Donald Trump mused yesterday during an interview with CNN as he talked about the FBI investigation.
Former U.S. Attorney Matthew Whitaker told The Hill that the case could require Clinton’s deposition to fully understand how the server was set up and how it works, but added that her legal team “is going to fight that really hard”.
Huma Abedin, who served as Mrs Clinton’s deputy chief of staff during Mrs Clinton’s tenure as the U.S. top diplomat between 2009 and 2013, was questioned in April, according to the official.
Of course, this will pose certain challenges, as Clinton is in the middle of a presidential campaign that takes her to and fro, always has a security detail by her side, and, oh yeah, doesn’t want to talk to the Federal Bureau of Investigation about whatever she was doing with that private email server.
Based on what might be discovered from those interviews, which are to be conducted over the next eight weeks, Sullivan says in his order an out-of-court testimony from Clinton “may be necessary”. The Clinton campaign has also yet to comment.
The FBI and Justice Department are investigating if there was any violation of rules or if any sensitive information was compromised because of this email scandal.
Ms Clinton has maintained that none of her e-mails had been marked “classified” when she sent them and, after her own lawyers had removed mails they deemed purely personal, she submitted a 52,000-page document dump to the State Department. The unnamed officials said Thursday that the investigation has so far not revealed evidence that Clinton intentionally broke the law.
“These FBI interviews are another reminder of the gross negligence Hillary Clinton displayed as Secretary of State”, Reince Priebus, the Republican National Committee chairman, said in a statement.
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The decision has come in response to a lawsuit filed by a watchdog company requesting records, accessible by the Freedom of Information Act, concerning Abedin’s employment within the Clinton Foundation.
