Rep. Elijah Cummings, the top Democrat on the House Select Committee on Benghazi, blasted Donald Trump, Scott Walker and Mike Huckabee, among others, for their “onslaught of reckless accusations” about Hillary Clinton’s private emails Wednesday in his defense of a Clinton aide’s decision to invoke his Fifth Amendment right to refuse questions about the server.
Bryan Pagliano, the former State Department official who was reportedly responsible for Clinton’s private server, told the select committee through his attorney that he did not plan to answer questions about his involvement with the server given “the current political environment.”
Pagliano is still scheduled to appear before the committee Sept. 10.
He was also contacted by the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Homeland Security Committee within the past week, according to a report by the Washington Post.
A spokesman for the Judiciary Committee told the Washington Examiner that Pagliano’s attorney informed the committee Tuesday he would “plead the Fifth to any and all questions if he were compelled to testify.”
Cummings dismissed allegations that Clinton committed a crime by transmitting classified information on her private server in response to Pagliano’s decision.
“Although multiple legal experts agree there is no evidence of criminal activity, it is certainly understandable that this witness’ attorneys advised him to assert his Fifth Amendment rights, especially given the onslaught of wild and unsubstantiated accusations by Republican presidential candidates, members of Congress, and others based on false leaks about the investigation,” the Maryland Democrat said. “Their insatiable desire to derail Secretary Clinton’s presidential campaign at all costs has real consequences for any serious congressional effort.”
In a memo to Democratic staff members of the Benghazi committee, Cummings highlighted statements from certain GOP candidates for president that he said smeared Clinton “without evidence to support their claims.”
For example, he cited several instances in which Trump stated unequivocally that Clinton had committed a crime.
Cummings also pointed to a statement from Walker’s campaign page that called for a criminal investigation of Clinton.
“Given Clinton’s reputation for thinking she’s above the rules — and her previous denial that she emailed classified material — a complete and thorough criminal investigation is the only way to get to the bottom of this serious matter,” the Wisconsin governor had said.
