Clinton IT Official Takes the Fifth on Email Scandal

Last week, we released the deposition transcript of former State Department IT political appointee Bryan Pagliano, who repeatedly invoked his Fifth Amendment right to not answer questions. Pagliano was the Clinton State Department IT official who reportedly provided support for the Clinton email system. The deposition transcript is available here.

Pagliano asserted his Fifth Amendment right to many key questions about the clintonemail.com system — including whether the system was set up to thwart the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA); any email-related discussions with Clinton and her top aides; how the system was set up; whether Clinton deleted government records; and recent discussions he may have had with Clinton’s lawyers about the email issue.

Pagliano made the following statement in response to these and other questions: On the advice of counsel, I will decline to answer your question in reliance on my rights under the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

Pagliano, at the direction of his lawyer, simply did not answer other questions, such as who was paying for his legal representation.

Pagliano is among seven depositions of former Clinton top aides and State Department officials that Judicial Watch has scheduled over the next two weeks.

The next witness is Huma Abedin, Clinton’s then-deputy chief of staff and a senior advisor throughout Clinton’s four years as Secretary of State and who also had an email account on the clintonemail.com system.

Abedin is scheduled to be deposed Tuesday, June 28. Under Secretary for Management Patrick F. Kennedy is scheduled to testify on Wednesday, June 29.

This discovery arises in a Judicial Watch FOIA lawsuit that seeks records about the controversial employment status of Huma Abedin, former deputy chief of staff to Clinton.

The lawsuit was reopened because of revelations about the clintonemail.com system. Judge Sullivan ordered that all deposition transcripts be made publicly available.
As you might imagine, the media widely covered this development.

You can watch television coverage, featuring interviews of my Judicial Watch colleagues, here and here.

Tom Fitton is the president of Judicial Watch. He is a nationally recognized expert on government corruption. A former talk radio and television host and analyst, Tom is well known across the country as a national spokesperson for the conservative cause. He has been quoted in Time, Vanity Fair, The Washington Post, The New York Times, and most every other major newspaper in the country. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.