Judge could put the squeeze on Hillary Clinton for testimony on emails
by Daniel Chaitin
| November 13, 2018 06:54 PM
A conservative watchdog group seeking to compel testimony from Hillary Clinton will get a hearing in federal court on the matter Wednesday afternoon.
Judicial Watch announced Tuesday that U.S. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan will hear the case, which stems from a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit regarding the controversial employment status of longtime Clinton aide Huma Abedin, who was granted a "special government employee" designation to accept outside employment while she was working at the State Department.
Clinton submitted written testimony under oath in October 2016, but Judicial Watch took issue with her answering that she "does not recall" for multiple questions regarding her Clinton.com, non-state.gov email system.
Judicial Watch also wants to force testimony from John Bentel, the State Department's former director of information resource management of the executive secretariat, who asserted his right under the Fifth Amendment and did not answer deposition questions.
The watchdog group's motion additionally seeks to make public audiovisual recordings of the depositions from top Clinton aides and State Department officials, including Abedin and Cheryl Mills.
Clinton's use of an unauthorized private email server to handle government business during her time as secretary of state has been the subject to a great deal of controversy. An FBI investigation into her emails in 2016 ended with the agency declining to recommend criminal charges against anyone involved with Clinton's private email network, even after finding that Clinton's team was "extremely careless" in handling classified information.
“The public and the media have a right to a full accounting from top officials of the Clinton State Department,†Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton said in a statement. “In lieu of a much-needed, new and untainted investigation by the FBI, the continued work of Judicial Watch in the courts is clearly the only hope of bringing sunlight into the Clinton email issue and completing the public record."
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/judge-could-put-the-squeeze-on-hillary-clinton-for-testimony-on-emails
