FOIA Advisor

FOIA News: Clinton resists deposition to ask who urged using private server

FOIA News (2015-2023)Kevin SchmidtComment

Clinton resists deposition to ask who urged using private server

By Josh Gerstein, Politico, July 29, 2016

Lawyers for Hillary Clinton say her recent comment that someone "recommended" she use a private email system while secretary of state is no reason to subject her to a sworn deposition in a pending federal lawsuit about State Department records.

Just hours after Clinton wrapped up her speech accepting the Democratic presidential nomination at the party's convention in Philadelphia, Clinton's legal team submitted an unexpected legal filing to a federal judge in Washington Friday morning, arguing that Clinton's statement in a televised interview aired Sunday does not bolster a conservative group's drive to depose her.

"Secretary Clinton’s recent statement is completely consistent with her many other statements on this topic," longtime Clinton lawyer David Kendall wrote in a pleading filed with U.S. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan.

"It was recommended that it would be convenient, and I thought it would be. It’s turned out to be anything but," Clinton told Scott Pelley of CBS's "60 Minutes" during a joint interview with new running mate Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.)

On Monday, the group pressing the Freedom of Information Act suit in front of Sullivan, Judicial Watch, sent Sullivan a transcript of the interview. The organization also argued that Clinton's statement was yet another indication that questions remain about why Clinton chose to use the private server located in the basement of her home rather than the State Department's official systems.

Read more here.