A federal judge issued a groundbreaking ruling Tuesday in a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit over Hillary Clinton’s emails that could allow a watchdog group to question top State Department aides involved in Clinton’s private email network.
In a case filed by Judicial Watch, a conservative nonprofit, Judge Emmet Sullivan of the U.S. District Court said he was considering a subpoena that would force Clinton to hand over every email transmitted on her “clintonemail.com” domain, not just the roughly 30,000 she deemed work-related.
Sullivan granted a motion for discovery in the case, opening the door for Judicial Watch to request depositions of staffers who might have been involved in setting up Clinton’s private server. Attorneys for Judicial Watch have in the past argued in favor of being allowed to depose aides like Patrick Kennedy or Huma Abedin because, they say, the State Department has not demonstrated it made efforts to ensure access to all of Clinton’s records.
Clinton said in March of last year that she erased roughly 30,000 emails she characterized as personal.
But critics have questioned why Clinton was permitted to decide which records to withhold and which to turn over, amid speculation that the private server network was established in an attempt to flout the very open records laws that are now forcing the release of all her work-related messages.
Sullivan’s order Tuesday could allow Judicial Watch to ask top Clinton aides under oath whether they set up the server network to hide records.
Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, said the motion could even allow the group to obtain testimony from Clinton herself.
“Our proposed discovery, which will require court approval, will include testimony of current and former officials of the State Department,” Fitton said. “While Mrs. Clinton’s testimony may not be required initially, it may happen that her testimony is necessary for the Court to resolve the legal issues about her unprecedented email practices.”
The State Department has to date published more than 43,000 pages of Clinton’s emails under a different FOIA lawsuit filed by Jason Leopold of Vice News. According to a court order in that case, the agency must finish releasing the remaining Clinton emails by Feb. 29.
Judicial Watch will file its plan for discovery by March 15, according to court documents.
