U.S. District Judge Authorizes Deposition Of Hillary Clinton On Emails And Benghazi Documents

Dan Montanaro | March 3, 2020
DONATE
Font Size

On Monday, U.S. District Court Judge Royce Lamberth granted a request from Judicial Watch to depose former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton concerning her emails and Benghazi attack documents.

Additionally, the court ordered depositions of Clinton’s former Chief of Staff Cheryl Mills, and two other State Department officials.

This ruling is the latest in a years-long lawsuit that Judicial Watch filed seeking records concerning “talking points or updates on the Benghazi attack.” Judge Lamberth first ordered discovery in December of 2018, to determine whether Clinton’s use of a private server was intended to possibly obstruct FOIA, whether the State Department’s intent to settle this case in late 2014 and early 2015 amounted to bad faith, and finally, whether the State Department has adequately searched for records responsive to Judicial Watch’s request.

Judge Lamberth overruled objections from both Clinton and the State and Justice Departments to limited additional discovery, noting that results of previous rounds of discovery have left the court unsatisfied.

“Discovery up until this point has brought to light a noteworthy amount of relevant information, but Judicial Watch requests an additional round of discovery, and understandably so. With each passing round of discovery, the Court is left with more questions than answers.”

The court found, with respect to former Secretary Clinton, that her prior testimony, mostly in written form, was insufficient.

“The Court has considered the numerous times in which Secretary Clinton said she could not recall or remember certain details in her prior interrogatory answers. In a deposition, it is more likely that plaintiff’s counsel could use documents and other testimony to attempt to refresh her recollection. And so, to avoid the unsatisfying and inefficient outcome of multiple rounds of fruitless interrogatories and move this almost six-year-old case closer to its conclusion, Judicial Watch will be permitted to clarify and further explore Secretary Clinton’s answers in person and immediately after she gives them. The Court agrees with Judicial Watch - it is time to hear directly from Secretary Clinton.”

Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton stated that “We’re pleased that the court authorized us to depose Mrs. Clinton directly on her email conduct and how in impacted the people’s ‘right to know’ under FOIA.”

It is hoped that this new round of discovery may yield the means to an end for this long-lasting matter.

Source: Judicial Watch

donate