A federal judge ordered twice failed Democrat presidential candidate Hillary Clinton to give a sworn deposition over her use of a private email server while she was Secretary of State.
“U.S. District Court Royce Lamberth issued the order Monday in connection with a five-and-a-half-year-old Freedom of Information Act lawsuit the conservative group Judicial Watch filed seeking emails related to the deadly 2012 attack on U.S. facilities in Benghazi, Libya,” Politico reported. “Clinton was previously required to submit a sworn written statement about her email use, but the deposition—if it takes place—would be the first time she has had to submit to live questioning under oath on the subject.”
The court ruled that Clinton’s prior testimony, which was in writing, was not sufficient:
The Court has considered the numerous times in which Secretary Clinton said she could not recall or remember certain details in her prior interrogatory answers. In a deposition, it is more likely that plaintiff’s counsel could use documents and other testimony to attempt to refresh her recollection. And so, to avoid the unsatisfying and inefficient outcome of multiple rounds of fruitless interrogatories and move this almost six-year-old case closer to its conclusion, Judicial Watch will be permitted to clarify and further explore Secretary Clinton’s answers in person and immediately after she gives them. The Court agrees with Judicial Watch – it is time to hear directly from Secretary Clinton.
Clinton was the subject of an FBI criminal investigation over her use of the private email server and was cleared before the 2016 election by former disgraced FBI Director James Comey. The entire investigation into Clinton and Comey’s exoneration of Clinton have come under intense scrutiny amid allegations of political bias impacting the outcome of the investigation.
CNN reported:
Comey prepared the draft exoneration for Clinton before conducting interviews with top Clinton aides who were offered immunity for their cooperation, Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley and Sen. Lindsey Graham said Thursday in a joint statement, citing transcripts of interviews with former Comey aides obtained by the Senate judiciary committee.
“Conclusion first, fact-gathering second — that’s no way to run an investigation. The FBI should be held to a higher standard than that, especially in a matter of such great public interest and controversy,” Grassley and Graham wrote in a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray seeking more information — including all drafts of Comey’s final statement on Clinton’s emails by September 13.
“Clinton and her lawyers have spent months inventing one excuse after another for why she shouldn’t have to answer questions in a deposition about her unauthorized and unsecured computer system,” Fox News legal analyst Gregg Jarrett said in response to the newest developments in the case. “She used a clandestine server to handle all of her electronic communications as secretary of state, including the transfer and dissemination of thousands of classified and top-secret documents.”
“Clinton almost certainly committed a myriad of felonies under the Espionage Act and other criminal statutes,” Jarrett continued. “Instead of pastel pantsuits, Clinton should be wearing an orange jumpsuit. But the Obama administration protected her, allowing former FBI Director James Comey to clear her by twisting the facts and contorting the law.”