Colin Powell says Clinton officials trying to ‘pin’ email scandal on him

A federal judge denied Friday a request by a conservative legal watchdog group to depose Hillary Clinton in person over her email server but says she does have to answer written questions.

Judicial Watch made a name for itself by dogging former president Bill Clinton, and has now filed a number of lawsuits under the Freedom of Information Act (Foia) seeking records from the state department about Hillary Clinton’s time spent as the nation’s top diplomat.

Powell, through a spokesman, said he doesn’t remember the dinner party conversation, but added he did use a private email account for unclassified communications with other department employees because no official system existed for such messages when he had the job.

Powell told Page Six Saturday at an event in the Hamptons that Clinton was using her own private server for a year before he even sent the memo to her. “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”.

“General Powell has no recollection of the dinner conversation (mentioned in the Times story)”.

During the course of the interview, Hillary noted that former Secretary of State Colin Powell had encouraged her to use private e-mail shortly after she assumed that role. “Powell told her to user her own email, as he had done, except for classified communications, which he had sent and received via a State Department computer …”

But Judge Emmet Sullivan said Friday that the group “has failed to demonstrate that it can not obtain the discovery it seeks through other, less burdensome or intrusive means such as interrogatories”.

The messages raised questions about the nature of her State Department’s relationship with the Clinton Foundation.

In a statement, Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton suggested that his group would accelerate the timetable as he expressed satisfaction with Sullivan’s order: “We will move quickly to get these answers”.

Judicial Watch may serve interrogatories on Clinton by October 14. Democrats have expressed concern over the potential for politically motivated leaks by Republicans to target Clinton less than three months before the presidential election. Clinton, though, had a private email server at her home in Chappaqua, N.Y.

Clinton’s testimony was included in a report the Federal Bureau of Investigation delivered to Congress Tuesday explaining Director James Comey’s decision not to recommend charges against the former secretary of state over her use of a personal email server, the sources said.

Six weeks have passed since F.B.I. director James Comey characterized Hillary Clinton’s e-mail practices as “extremely careless” but stopped short of recommending criminal charges.