The FBI is conducting a high-stakes “criminal investigation” into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s email practices, a federal judge confirmed this week in a memo that said her tech guru can keep his immunity agreement private.
Judge Emmet G. Sullivan, who has now reviewed the immunity agreement between Bryan Pagliano and the Justice Department, said the document should remain sealed “because the government’s criminal investigation through which Mr. Pagliano received limited immunity is ongoing and confidential.”
Mr. Pagliano, who set up and maintained the secret server Mrs. Clinton used to conduct government business, has agreed to cooperate with the FBI in its probe in exchange for being shielded from prosecution.
But Judge Sullivan has ordered Mr. Pagliano testify as part of an open-records lawsuit trying to figure out why the State Department struggled to preserve and released Mrs. Clinton’s emails, which were official records supposed to be stored under federal law.
Mr. Pagliano has indicated he will refuse to answer any questions, asserting his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. He and his lawyers had asked that the deposition not be videotaped, fearing it could be used eventually in political attacks against Mrs. Clinton.
Judge Sullivan, though, rejected that, saying the session with Judicial Watch, the group that’s pursuing the open-records lawsuit, can be taped. But the video will be sealed until the judge decides later what to do with it.
“Mr. Pagliano is an important witness and we’re pleased his testimony will be videotaped,” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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