By Bronte Price, PoliticKING
Former U.S. State Department staffer, Bryan Pagliano, who worked on Hillary Clinton’s private email server, will reportedly invoke his Fifth Amendment rights during a June 6 deposition in D.C. District Court, his lawyers said.
“Mr. Pagliano is a nonparty caught up in a lawsuit with an undisputed political agenda,” his lawyers said in a court filing. Pagliano’s deposition is part of a lawsuit brought by the conservative group, Judicial Watch, over public records regarding Hillary Clinton’s email server and the employment status of one of her top aides.
NEWS: Clinton aide Bryan Pagliano to plead the fifth in civil case on email server questions. https://t.co/MsFbjArf6m
— Byron Tau (@ByronTau) June 1, 2016
Judicial Watch requested for Pagliano’s deposition to be recorded on video. Pagliano’s lawyers, however, said there was no “proper purpose” as he wasn’t answering questions anyway. They also said the video would leave Pagliano vulnerable to “considerable risk of abuse.”
"Mr. Pagliano will invoke his right under the Fifth Amendment and decline to testify at the deposition," Pagliano's lawyers Mark MacDougall and Connor Mullin wrote. "Given the constitutional implications, the absence of any proper purpose for video recording the deposition, and the considerable risk of abuse, the Court should preclude Judicial Watch, Inc. ... from creating an audiovisual recording of Mr. Pagliano’s deposition."
Pagliano declined to answer questions from the Benghazi Select Committee as well last September. He did, however, agree to cooperate with the FBI's investigation into Clinton's email server. Pagliano has been granted immunity by the FBI as part of that process.
The State Department said early last month that it could not locate most of Pagliano’s emails from his time serving as Clinton’s senior information technology staffer while she was the U.S. Secretary of State.
For more on this story read:
Watchdog report: Hillary Clinton broke email rules
Huma Abedin, Hillary Clinton's top aide, interviewed by FBI
Tom DeLay: FBI “Ready To Indict” Hillary Clinton
FBI Director won’t be rushed on Hillary email investigation
New emails show Clinton asked for secure phone
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