Clinton lawyer: More questions about email server ‘futile’

Source: Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) —

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Clinton lawyer David Kendall said a request from a conservative legal group to depose the presumptive Democratic nominee is an improper “fishing expedition.” Judicial Watch has asked U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan to allow them to question Clinton as part of a long-running lawsuit.

At issue is whether the State Department conducted an adequate search of public records in response to a Freedom of Information Act request. The group has filed several lawsuits seeking records from government agencies related to Clinton’s tenure as the nation’s top diplomat from 2009 to 2013. Kendall says Clinton has already answered questions to the FBI as part of its now-closed criminal probe into whether classified material was mishandled, as well as to the congressional committee investigating the 2012 Benghazi attacks that killed four Americans.

Sullivan previously approved requests for several of Clinton’s closest aides to submit to questions, including for Clinton Chief of Staff Cheryl Mills and Deputy Chief of Staff Huma Abedin. Judicial Watch lawyers pressed the current and former State Department officials on whether Clinton’s exclusive use of private emails amounted to an effort to avoid federal Freedom of Information Act records requests during her agency tenure.

Kendall dismissed those concerns in his argument, saying there was “no evidence that the purpose of the clintonemail.com system was to thwart FOIA.” He cited recent comments from FBI Director James Comey to back up Clinton’s own statements that she used the private server simply as a matter of convenience.

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Read more: http://www.salon.com/2016/07/12/clinton_lawyer_more_questions_about_email_server_futile/