A
federal judge on Tuesday ruled that State Department officials and top
aides to Hillary Clinton should be questioned under oath about whether
they intentionally thwarted federal open records laws by using or
allowing the use of a private email server throughout Clinton’s tenure
as secretary of state from 2009 to 2013.
The decision by
U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan of Washington came in a lawsuit
over public records brought by Judicial Watch, a conservative legal
watchdog group, regarding its May 2013 request for information about the
employment arrangement of Huma Abedin, a longtime Clinton aide.
Officials
with the State and Justice departments said that they were aware of the
order but declined to comment further, citing the ongoing litigation.
Discovery orders are not readily appealable. An attorney for Abedin
declined to comment.
Sullivan set an April 12 deadline for
parties to litigate a detailed investigative plan--subject to court
approval--that would reach well beyond the limited and carefully worded
explanations of the use of the private server that department and
Clinton officials have given.
Sullivan also suggested from the
bench that he might at some point order the department to subpoena
Clinton and Abedin to return all emails related to Clinton’s private
account, not just records their camps previously deemed work-related and
returned.
“There has been a constant drip, drip, drip of declarations. When does
it stop?” Sullivan said, “This case is about the public’s right to
know.” (Wa/Post, here).
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