The FBI's probe into Clinton's use of a private server isn't the only noose that is keeping Clinton (and the State Department) up at night: this week interviews begin in a separate Judicial Watch civil suit, previously profiled here, against key State Department figures, all of whom just happen to be close co-workers of Hillary.
Accordng to Time, two close Clinton aides, Huma Abedin and Cheryl Mills, will testify under oath this month and next, Judicial Watch announced today. The judge in the case said earlier this month he may force Clinton herself to testify after the first round of interviews is completed. That has set up the prospect of the Democratic front-runner for the White House facing off under oath against one of her most dogged pursuers as early as July, just months before the November election.
It is telling that Judicial Watch’s potentially big win has come not from any dark conspiracy it has uncovered, but from what it has not. The judge has limited the group to a narrow line of inquiry designed to answer a simple question: why did Clinton set up a private server and use it for all her work e-mails as Secretary of State? Clinton says it was matter of convenience, but over the course of the trial, the judge has given credence to the allegation that she was intentionally thwarting the federal laws ensuring government transparency.
And that’s why the messy, drawn out drama over case No. F-2013-08812 matters. Clinton is no stranger to allegations that amount to nothing. From Whitewater to Benghazi her political opponents have tried and failed to find evidence that she committed a crime. A law enforcement official familiar with the separate FBI investigation into how classified information got onto her private server says there is little evidence of a crime there either, though the probe is continuing.
But Clinton may have violated civil law if she intentionally thwarted FOIA or the Federal Records Act, which requires public officials to take a number of steps to preserve and make public their work related documents, according to experts and judges handling the matter in the courts. Which means that for many voters it will be Clinton’s trustworthiness that is on trial in the FOIA case.
According to the Wall Street Journal, depositions will also be given under oath by Lewis Lukens, a former deputy assistant secretary of state, and Bryan Pagliano, the IT staffer who set up Clinton's private server. The interviews are set to begin this week. Pagliano refused to testify in front of Congress last year citing his fith amendment, but has since been offered immunity by the Justice Department in a twist that some say could be the critical break in any objective probe into Hillary's activities. As a reminder, Huma Abedin has already testified in the FBI's investigation into Clinton's use of a private server.
As is currently the case with the FBI investigation, whether Clinton herself will be forced to testify in the civil suit is unclear.
Between the FBI investigation, and the civil suit, if Clinton comes away from everything unscathed then it's time to reassign the nickname "Teflon Don" from John Gotti to Hillary.
Or not. With support from friends in high places, there is a very good chance that we'll be seeing Clinton all smiles on a debate stage this fall with not a care in the world about this entire issue. The market agrees: when asked "Will a federal criminal charge be filed against Hillary Clinton in 2016?", the answer provided by PredictIt bettors is trivial: 24%.