A watchdog group has called on the State Department inspector general to investigate the private arrangement that allowed Hillary Clinton to pay Bryan Pagliano, her former IT aide, on the side for managing her email server while Pagliano worked at the State Department.
Cause of Action, a nonprofit watchdog, wrote a letter to the inspector general Monday highlighting federal regulations that prohibit most government employees from collecting outside income for services performed as a federal official.
The group cited a section of the Foreign Affairs Manual and a provision of the Anti-Deficiency Act that bars “unauthorized augmentation” of a federal employee’s salary by a source other than the government.
“The setting up and maintenance of a computer server that was intended, at least in part, to serve Mrs. Clinton in her official capacity as secretary of state would thus appear to be within the scope of Mr. Pagliano’s official duties at the State Department,” the letter said.
Lee Steven, senior counsel at Cause of Action and author of the letter, argued Pagliano’s private payments likely violated federal statutes because his work on the server that hosted Clinton’s government communications was presumably part of his agency job.
If the State Department or Pagliano himself makes the argument that the aide’s work on the server fell outside his duties as an agency employee, then Pagliano could face questions about why he worked with information now known to be classified outside the scope of his official employment.
He could also struggle with questions about whether he reported the additional income he pocketed from Clinton if his work on the server is not deemed part of his State Department duties.
Sens. Charles Grassley and Ron Johnson asked the Justice Department Monday if Pagliano is under investigation for his failure to report the private payments.
The pair of Senate chairmen have made a series of inquiries in an attempt to assess the need to offer Pagliano an immunity deal in order to encourage his cooperation.
Pagliano walked away from a closed-door interview with the House Select Committee on Benghazi Thursday after refusing to answer lawmakers’ questions.
