Judge denies request to depose Clinton

Democratic Party presidential candidate Hillary Clinton does not need to give sworn testimony in a lawsuit brought by a conservative watchdog group over her use of an unauthorized private email system while she was US secretary of state, a judge ruled on Friday.

Hillary Clinton will have to answer handwritten questions about her use of a private email server while overseeing the State Department, a federal judge ordered on Friday.

U.S. District Court Judge Emmet G. Sullivan issued the order as part of a lawsuit filed by Judicial Watch.

Clinton, who served as the country’s top diplomat from 2009 to 2013, has apologized for her decision to use the unorthodox email set-up, which had the effect of shielding her communications from public-records laws until the arrangement came to light past year.

The ruling stems from a lawsuit filed by the conservative advocacy group Judicial Watch, adding to Clinton’s struggles as she looks to put to rest the controversy surrounding her email server.

The group is seeking the details of Huma Abedin’s relationship with the State Department that permitted her to do outside work while she was a top aide to Secretary Clinton.

Sullivan also ruled that Judicial Watch could depose John Bentel, a now-retired official who during Hillary Clinton’s tenure headed a State Department information technology unit. 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. Bentel and his lawyer have declined to comment on the episode.

Clinton’s camp issued a terse response to the ruling Friday, blasting the plaintiff as an anti-Clinton group.

Sullivan ordered the State Department to turn over remaining emails responsive to Judicial Watch’s request by September 30.

“Because Secretary Clinton has not answered for the record and under oath.and because her closest aides at the State Department do not have personal knowledge of her objective in using the system, the Court will permit testimony from Secretary Clinton” regarding the creation and operation of her email setup for State Department business, Sullivan wrote Friday.

Judicial Watch’s Director of Investigations Chris Farrell said that while they would have preferred to have Clinton answer questions in person, the decision represented a victory for the organization.