The FBI and Justice Department may have given Hillary Clinton a pass on her “extremely careless” handling of classified information, but it’s important to remember that the suit filed by Judicial Watch is very much a going concern.
In August, a judge ordered Clinton to answer interrogatories on the use of her private email server while secretary of state. She was granted a two-week extension in September, citing “unavailability of counsel and the press of campaign business” — such as her pressing need to appear on the Tonight Show.
Judicial Watch had hoped Clinton would be deposed, but instead she was given a list of interrogatories to answer in writing, while under oath — a first. Note that Clinton was not under oath during her interview with the FBI (the one where she claimed she was unaware that the (C) mark on her emails indicated the contents were confidential).
.@ShannonBream has a copy of Clinton’s first-time-under-oath answers to Judicial Watch.
— johnny dollar (@johnnydollar01) October 13, 2016
News has broken that @HillaryClinton has been forced to submit to a federal judge under threat of perjury – @afneil https://t.co/LGBlYPBysJ
— BBC This Week (@bbcthisweek) October 13, 2016
#Breaking: Clinton answers written questions under penalty of perjury in email lawsuit https://t.co/8JDdIq0Atm pic.twitter.com/CMKHE8mZjv
— POLITICO (@politico) October 13, 2016
Tonight, news broke that Clinton had at last submitted her written answers to Judicial Watch’s questions, and journalists doing a quick scan are seeing a lot of objections from Clinton, followed by complaints that the questions fall outside the scope of the suit. Imagine that.
Recommended
That doesn’t mean she didn’t agree to answer some of the questions; however, the familiar “Secretary Clinton does not recall …” popping up again and again isn’t a promising sign that Clinton is taking any of this seriously. Must … hang on … until … Election Day.
Clinton replies to Judicial Watch on email are perfectly Clintonian. Lot's of "I don't recall seeing memo" & "I don't recall discussing."
— Singer (@singernews) October 13, 2016
BREAKING: Clinton answers written questions in email suit. 20x doesn't recall relevant discussions–if they happened https://t.co/3XW8AgnLcb
— Josh Gerstein (@joshgerstein) October 13, 2016
40 times Clinton "objects to" a line of questioning; 20 times Clinton "does not recall" details on email server
— Jamie Dupree (@jamiedupree) October 13, 2016
.@politico "I don't recall" is a beautiful legal tool
— These Times (@politicsfan1776) October 13, 2016
First question should have been: Does Hillary Clinton have any medical problems with short or long-term memory? @cjtfarrell @JudicialWatch
— Emily Miller (@emilymiller) October 13, 2016
BREAKING: @JudicialWatch was authorized to question Hillary under oath about emails and deletion. Hillary objected to 18 of the 25 questions
— Alison Arkin (@Cronikeys) October 13, 2016
Clinton, in response to @JudicialWatch, seems to indicates she never expected FOIA requests for her emails. pic.twitter.com/QBrj6Hfqrj
— Jason Seher (@jhseher) October 13, 2016
She claims she understood that her emails were subject to FOIA requests, but she can’t recall if she ever expected any such requests.
What the hell? These two statements contradict each other, right? pic.twitter.com/BZvBcIfLCe
— Alison Arkin (@Cronikeys) October 13, 2016
Odd response from Clinton to a question from @JudicialWatch: invoking attorney-client privilege. pic.twitter.com/oqF2GZENe6
— Jason Seher (@jhseher) October 13, 2016
Politico has reviewed Clinton’s answers and is finding quite a bit of the same. Clinton “does not recall considering factors other than convenience in deciding to use a personal e-mail account to conduct official State Department business.”
So, she’s saying under oath that she wasn’t trying to duck FOIA requests? Well, she “does not recall whether she had a specific expectation that the State Department would receive FOIA requests for or concerning her e-mail.”
In answering the questions, Clinton’s lawyers noted that she would “construe the term Clintonemail.com account to refer to [email protected], which was the clintonemail.com account used by Secretary Clinton during her tenure.” Handy for her, then, that running her own email server allowed her to create as many email aliases as she wanted.
Fourth email address, hdr29, joins hr15, HDR22, and HRod17: always maiden name/initials in private. https://t.co/c9wiPH9fFq
— Phil Kerpen (@kerpen) October 10, 2016
Another thing Clinton doesn’t recall: “having communications with Bryan Pagliano concerning or relating to the management, preservation, deletion, or destruction of any e-mails in her clintonemail.com email account.” If Pagliano recalls any such communications, we might never know, seeing as he twice failed to appear before the House Oversight Committee, despite being subpoenaed.
Politico has posted a PDF of Clinton’s answers to Judicial Watch’s questions. It’s doubtful this story will gain any traction in the media this week, but the document is essential reading for anyone still following Clinton’s email scandal … just be prepared to encounter “Secretary Clinton objects” over and over and over where the answers were supposed to go.
* * *
Related:
Tech who wiped Hillary's email archive with BleachBit pleads the Fifth; Bryan Pagliano doesn't show https://t.co/NP0gRj9hPY
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) September 13, 2016
Join the conversation as a VIP Member