US Judge: Clinton may be ordered to testify in records case

[NWCorona]

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge says he may order Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton to testify under oath about whether she used a private email server as secretary of state to evade public records disclosures.

U.S. District Court Judge Emmet G. Sullivan on Wednesday signed an order granting a request from the conservative legal advocacy group Judicial Watch to question six current and former State Department staffers. The list includes some of Clinton's closest aides from her tenure as the nation's top diplomat.

Based on what might be gleaned in those interviews, Sullivan says in his order that a sworn deposition from Clinton "may be necessary."

More than three dozen lawsuits have been filed seeking copies of government records related to Clinton's service as secretary from 2009 to 2013.

http://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2016-05-04/us-judge-clinton-may-be-ordered-to-testify-in-records-case

[Jackie Wilson Said]

1. GOP wont give up till she is destroyed.

[NWCorona]

2. Very true but this is a Clinton appointed judge. nt

[tomm2thumbs]

14. whooops, the truth hurts

especially those who are trying to run from it at every turn

[NWCorona]

19. Yup!

Even though the RW has latched onto this it's still all Hillary's doing.

[tomm2thumbs]

21. self-inflicted wounds

either in the foot or the mouth, but sometimes both

[Jackie Wilson Said]

47. I have heard that elsewhere...almost verbatim - weird

[NWCorona]

48. It's the truth

[Jackie Wilson Said]

49. That is what they say

This agenda is being exposed on the radio too, finally.

May be too late though, many unsuspecting liberal people have been fooled.

[NWCorona]

51. It's not an issue of being fooled

This is complicated subject matter that most people know nothing about. On both sides.

[Jackie Wilson Said]

53. Nope, it is a right wing conspiracy to destroy Hillary and that conspiracy is alive and well here

[NWCorona]

56. And that's your opinion but the FBI wouldn't be waiting this much time on nonsense. nt

[Jackie Wilson Said]

59. The non stop promotion of this on DU is noted.

[NWCorona]

62. Note away but I think it's silly not to expect this not to be covered here.

She's being investigated by the FBI for Pete's sake.

[Jackie Wilson Said]

63. As you and a few others have said a few thousand times.

[Jackie Wilson Said]

46. The GOP conspiracy to destroy the Clinton's is alive and well.

[tomm2thumbs]

50. uh huh

[frylock]

52. Incubated by Hillary's ineptitude and Poor Choices.

[Hortensis]

36. Whatever. That conservative political action group has

filed several suits to try to drag this out as long as possible. If she has to work a deposition into her schedule, she will. If only it could be in public, like that last Benghazi hearing, but of course that won't happen.

[tex-wyo-dem]

38. The FOIA lawsuits are entirely separate from...

The ongoing FBI investigation. The case was referred to the FBI by Obama's State Department.

[Hortensis]

41. No, this is "Judicial Watch" mischief. Don't you love the name?

Ultraconservative billionaire Richard Mellon Scaife (safely dead these past 2-3 years so we can't even fantasize about trying him for his crimes) funded their start-up to turn them on the Democrats.

[Ash_F]

54. I think one of the first FOIA lawsuits was from Vce News

Which has been very favorable to Clinton this cycle.

[tex-wyo-dem]

67. Yes, I know it's a conservative group, and...

Yes, I know they are motivated to submit these lawsuits to damage Clinton, but if the lawsuits were stupid which-hunt bullshit, they wouldn't get past their first hearing. The fact that they have moved from discovery to deposition phase tells me there is there there.

FYI...this is nothing like the Benghazi investigation that was run by the repub controlled congress and most definitely was politically motivated. The FOIA lawsuits are civil legal matters.

[COLGATE4]

37. No. Appointed first by Ronnie Raygun and promoted by Poppy Bush.

Sullivan was appointed by President Reagan to the Superior Court of the District of Columbia on October 3, 1984. On November 25, 1991, Sullivan was appointed by President George H. W. Bush to serve as an Associate Judge of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals.

[Ash_F]

3. Emmet G. Sullivan was appointed by Bill Clinton

[roguevalley]

8. facts are so inconvenient to the rw meme industry people

[JudyM]

11. ...and Obama's agencies/depts are continuing to investigate her, and a referral (case sent to DOJ)

is forthcoming, according a DOJ statement to the Court.

Continuing to say this is a GOP witch hunt is patently absurd!!

[Ash_F]

13. Also it was Obama's state department that referred the case to the FBI

They did this after Clinton gave them a hard time turning over the emails.

[morningfog]

26. This is a Federal judge, not the GOP.

[CoffeeCat]

65. The FBI's investigation into Clinton's email server and whether or not she

passed sensitive information through it--is not a right-wing issue.

This is a very serious issue within the Democratic party. Stop trying to paint this as a Republican hit job. This is an FBI investigation into the Democratic Party frontrunner. Who gives a flying fuck what the Republicans think or say. This is about US--as a party.

All Democrats should be asking questions about what is going on here. We should be able to discuss this like adults. This is about our frontrunner, this election and the entire Democratic party.

Any Democrat who bullies another Democrat into shutting up about this issue--is doing a disservice to the entire Democratic party.

[CentralCoaster]

4. Clinton ran the business of this country on personally owned equipment in the basement of her home.

In my opinion, by secreting material from the public and subverting the Freedom of Information Act, the former Secretary of State has committed acts that should disqualify her from holding any future office of significance.

That's just common sense.

She should withdraw from the campaign and support Senator Sanders, and soon.

[RobertEarl]

7. What a shame

First her Iraq vote kept her from becoming a president, and now her misuse of State documents is going to make her withdraw.

She could have been president if not for her past!! I feel bad for all her supporters, they just didn't see it coming. But that's what skeletons do.

[CentralCoaster]

18. "Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall." (Proverbs 16:18)

.
If ever this proverb fit a situation....

How much better it is to get wisdom than gold!
And to get understanding is to be chosen above silver.

The highway of the upright is to depart from evil;
He who watches his way preserves his life.

Pride goes before destruction,
And a haughty spirit before stumbling.

It is better to be humble in spirit with the lowly
Than to divide the spoil with the proud.

[politicaljunkie41910]

25. You know what they say about opinions and assholes; everybody's got one.

Since none of these cases will rest on the opinions of anyone here on DU, can Bernie's people spare the rest of us the constant updates of their personal opinions. People who have sufficient competent knowledge of the law, and the evidence available regarding this matter will render a decision when they are ready to do so. Until then can those of you who are in possession of neither, cut with the daily speculation.

[tex-wyo-dem]

39. If you don't like the "speculation", then don't read it eom

[notadmblnd]

60. You do know that you can skip over any post you don't want to read?

It is not a requirement to read everything posted. Here, we get to pick and choose. If you don't like it- move on. You have both an ignore and trash button.

So please, spare the rest of us your whining about it.

[grasswire]

5. well, now we know something new

No testimony has happened yet in the JW case.

A sworn deposition is bad news for her. A few weeks ago it was said that she would not be required to be under oath. This is an erosion of her status. Probably because she has pissed off the judge, who was appointed by her husband, incidentally.

This, it should be noted, is not part of the FBI investigation, which is broader and deeper.

[NWCorona]

6. Yup! This is just one of the many cases under Clinton's use of a server

In this case I think they just had the hearing where JW had to submit what the scope of what the questions would be. So the fact that it's on to scheduling depositions is huge.

[grasswire]

9. and this is not related to the "interviews" by the FBI.

This is separate. A civil suit.

We do not know the schedule for the FBI interviews, which may or may not be under oath. However, it is always a crime to lie to the FBI, regardless of oath. Martha Stewart.

[NWCorona]

10. Yup poor Martha, she should have listened to her lawyers

[HooptieWagon]

12. I think FBI may block her testimony...

...until after they've interviewed her. And in both cases, she'll plead the 5th if she's under oath.

[grasswire]

15. I don't think so.

I think they will be very very happy to have this testimony in hand when they interview her. Just my guess.

If she pleads the 5th, she's toast.

[HooptieWagon]

17. If she tells the truth or lies she's toast.

Her best chance is to clam up, and hope no more of her aides turn state's evidence.

[JudyM]

16. ... And since the FBI is moving slower, it will be helpful to have this testimony happen before the

Dem convention. Assuming she doesn't persuade the judge to seal the testimony...

No witch hunt, just the truth.

[Demsrule86]

44. She won't testify...more crap

Judicial watch people? And you say you are not helping Trump.

[JudyM]

45. Apparently the judge, who was appointed by Bill, is the one with the intent to help tRump, eh?

[dana_b]

20. Good

let's get to the bottom of this. If she has nothing to worry about, then she won't need to be questioned.

[BootinUp]

22. The answer seems obvious and not to sexy

No your honor, I did not.

I'll be surprised if this raises much interest.

[NWCorona]

23. Nope! No interest at all that Clinton might be compelled to testify under oath. nt

[BootinUp]

27. Not after what transpired last September, correct.

[NWCorona]

28. That had nothing to do with this

[BootinUp]

29. The public is tired of hearing about it and this story will do nothing

to change that.

[farleftlib]

66. AFAIK public opinion has absolutely no bearing

on a criminal FBI investigation and its likelihood to result in an indictment.

Very few people wanted to hear about the Bill and Monica escapades and yet
look how that turned out. This is happening whether Hill supporters want to hear
about it or not.

[AzDar]

24. K & R

[arcane1]

30. Of course she was trying "to evade public records disclosures". That was the entire point.

Just like when people in the Bush administration used RNC email addresses. Same reason.

[IdaBriggs]

33. Yup. It will be interesting to find out what she deleted.

We already know she did "partial" deletions because of the six that Blumenthal turned in -- changing government records and thinking she could get away with it --shaking my head at the shame she brings our party.

[arcane1]

34. She'll privatize the entire executive branch if given the opportunity.

There's a word for that, I believe...

[Mike Nelson]

31. This is great news...

...hope she is questioned soon! I'm sure Hillary would like them to move more quickly.

[bvf]

32. So it continues...

Superdelegates might have a lot of soul-searching to do on the road ahead.

[VOX]

35. "from the conservative legal advocacy group Judicial Watch"

I support Bernie, but this gambit is pure right-wing horseshit.

[tex-wyo-dem]

43. Conservative group or not, the fact...

That this case has gone this far means there is substance to the alogations.

Keep in mind that this is a civil case based on FOIA...the FBI investigation is entirely separate and is a criminal investigation.

[KoKo]

40. K&R!

[Matariki]

42. Which probably means they have the evidence she did just that

Or why bother?

[MattP]

55. Why Bother?

[MattP]

57. The same reason they file birther lawsuits

Because people believe it has to be true

[NWCorona]

58. You'll find out soon enough

[BootinUp]

61. Heads Up: This story is also available at Breitbart. nt

[NWCorona]

64. And the sky is blue

[Sparkly]

68. What a farce.

Bring it on.

[Peace Patriot]

69. Well, this should be interesting.

When Clinton was Sec of State, she wrote to the judge in the Drummond Coal death squad lawsuit asking him (but really telling him) NOT to require a deposition of Alvaro Uribe.

Uribe was basically the mafia boss of Colombia and president of that country during the Bush junta. With Clinton as Sec of State, Uribe (after CIA Director Panetta retired him as U.S. operative in Colombia) was given cushy academic sinecures at Harvard and Georgetown and a prestigious appointment to an international legal committee. Drummond Coal, an Alabama corporation operating in Colombia, was using death squads to solve its labor problems. The victims' surviving families brought the lawsuit. Uribe and his family members and political cronies have been firmly tied to the rightwing death squad activities in Colombia. (Some of them are already in jail for it.)

The judge--responding to the implication from Clinton that "national security" was involved--denied the families' request to depose Uribe.

So, now, Clinton has herself become subject to an inconvenient order for deposition, and doesn't seem to have a friend in the Obama administration (or the CIA) to intimidate the judge. Karma?