Judicial Watch (JW) has asked U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan to order Hillary Clinton to testify in a sworn deposition over their lawsuit over FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) requests that were never satisfied. Judge Sullivan has already ordered Hillary’s top aides to give depositions, which they have. JW now insists that Hillary’s testimony is necessary to establish how and why her private email system was set up. Judge Sullivan in the past has said that a Clinton deposition was a possibility. He now says that he plans on reaching a decision quickly on the JW motion.
Sullivan suggested that if he didn’t order Clinton to be deposed for three hours, he could allow Judicial Watch to provide written questions for Clinton to answer, but the judge warned both sides not to read anything into any comment he may have made during the 2 1/2 hours of oral arguments.
Lawyers for the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee have begun working to set the stage to delay a forced testimony in the event Sullivan rules against them. A pair of court filings lodged last week were the first time Clinton’s team of personal lawyers have intervened in the matter, which has been going on for nearly three years.
The specter of deposition hangs over Clinton just days before she is expected to be formally named the Democratic Party’s nominee for president. Although the Department of Justice recently announced that it would not press charges against Clinton or any of her aides for using the bespoke email system, the furor surrounding her email habits has continued apace.
At issue is whether Clinton deliberately tried to circumvent public records laws through her use of the server. Longtime Clinton lawyer David Kendall said Monday there is “not a scintilla of evidence” supporting such claims.
I would hope that Judge Sullivan allow JW to do what James Comey didn’t have the guts to do, because I assure you, JW will have her under oath.