Judge orders Clinton to answer email server questions from Judicial Watch

In a brief ruling issued Friday afternoon, Judge Emmet Sullivan of U.S. District Court in Washington approved a motion by the conservative advocacy organization Judicial Watch to pursue its vigorous campaign to expose Clinton’s use of the private server.

The FBI said Clinton’s use of the server was “extremely careless”, although it did not recommend – and the Justice Department did not file – criminal charges against Clinton for her mishandling of classified material.

“We will move quickly to get these answers”, he said.

Powell, a retired army general and former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said he used a secure computer on his desk at the State Department to manage classified information.

The former secretary of state, who was in charge of the office between 2001 and 2005, at a far earlier stage of online communications development, had only recalled an email memo to Clinton, in which he described his use of the personal account for unclassified messages, the statement by Powell’s office said, adding that it might still exist in the Federal Bureau of Investigation files. “This is just another lawsuit meant to try to hurt Hillary Clinton’s campaign, and so we are glad that the judge has accepted our offer to answer these questions in writing rather than grant Judicial Watch’s request”.

The decision by the FBI director is one that polls show most Americans disagreed with and Judge Sullivan apparently believes the issue warrants further investigation, as well. Secretary Clinton’s responses are due by no later than thirty days thereafter …

Sullivan, in a 28-page order, ruled on a July 8 request by the conservative legal group Judicial Watch in a lawsuit probing whether Clinton’s private email setup thwarted public records laws from 2009 to 2013.

Now a federal judge has ruled that Clinton must answer questions under oath posed by J.W., but she can do it in writing.

Sullivan also allowed Judicial Watch to get sworn testimony from a former State Department official named John Bentel.

Lawyers for the group argued that Clinton and her aides had not yet explained why the private server network was maintained long after they learned the State Department discouraged such a practice.

“Judicial Watch’s argument that a deposition is preferable in this case because of the ability to ask follow-up questions is not persuasive”, Sullivan wrote. Last week Judicial Watch released previously unseen email from Clinton’s aides that raised serious questions about the intersection of official State Department business and that of her husband’s philanthropic group, the Clinton Foundation. Besides knowing me as a journalist, and as the spouse of one of his former White House colleagues, Powell had not known of my past service as a State Department special agent or my familiarity with security procedures at play during my tenure. Judicial Watch has until October 16, 2016, to submit the questions.