A federal judge has ordered Hillary Clinton to answer written questions about her use of a private email server while at the state department in response to a lawsuit by a conservative watchdog group, though he declined to make her submit to a sworn deposition.
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Judicial Watch initially filed a lawsuit in September 2013, and although the group requested the chance to interrogate Clinton in person, the judge opted for a written questionnaire to be administered to Clinton, instead.
Clinton’s campaign dismissed the group’s efforts as a political ploy.
Although Sullivan ruled that it was unnecessary for Judicial Watch to interrogate Clinton in person, he added this caveat: “Given the extensive public record related to the clintonemail.com system, a record which Judicial Watch has acknowledged, Judicial Watch will be able to anticipate many follow-up questions”.
The Court is persuaded that Secretary Clinton’s testimony is necessary to enable her to explain on the record the objective for the creation and operation of the clintonemail.com system for State Department business.
Judicial Watch lawyers outlined their questions in a July filing that sought to depose Clinton after its previous interviews with seven current and former State Department employees yielded little answers as to why she set up the server and whether the State Department conducted an adequate search of its records for the foundation’s Freedom of Information Act request. “We will move quickly to get these answers. The decision is a reminder that Hillary Clinton is not above the law”.
The decision means Clinton will probably not have to step away from the campaign trail to sit for an interview with some of her fiercest critics, but ensures that the controversy will continue to follower her throughout the final weeks of the presidential campaign. Judge Sullivan said the group must submit its questions to Clinton by October 14 and gave Clinton 30 days to respond – a timetable that could theoretically push Clinton’s answers past the November presidential election.
“Judicial Watch is a right-wing organization that has been attacking the Clintons since the 1990s”, Fallon said.
While admitting Clinton was “extremely careless” in handling sensitive State Department material, FBI Director James Comey said last month she would not face criminal charges.
A headline in the section on August 20 declared: “Colin Powell: Former Secretary of State Confirms He Recommended Using Personal Email to Hillary Clinton”.
But Powell did not have a server at his house nor use outside contractors, as Clinton did, the Times reported.
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Speaking at Apollo in the Hamptons – a fundraiser for the Apollo theater – Powell said: ‘The truth is she was using (her personal email) for a year before I sent her a memo telling her what I did (during my term).
