Republicans ask Justice to clarify Clinton email inquiry

In this Sept. 10, 2015, photo, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton speaks at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in Milwaukee. The Justice Department is affirming that Clinton had the right to delete personal emails from her private server. Government lawyers made the assertion in a court filing this week in a public records lawsuit filed by Judicial Watch, an advocacy group. AP

WASHINGTON — Two top Republican senators asked the Justice Department Monday whether it is conducting a criminal investigation related to Hillary Rodham Clinton’s use of a private server for emails and whether the computer specialist who helped set it up is the subject.

Sens. Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin also asked Attorney General Loretta Lynch whether the department would deem a preliminary offer of immunity to the computer worker as a waiver of his constitutional rights against self-incrimination.

Computer specialist Bryan Pagliano has refused to answer questions about his role in setting up the server used by Clinton while she was secretary of state. His lawyers say Pagliano does not want to relinquish his rights under the US Constitution’s Fifth Amendment against self-incrimination.

Clinton, the 2016 Democratic presidential front-runner, has been dogged by questions about her use of a private email account for government business. As the controversy has dragged on, Clinton has seen her lead shrink over her rivals in national polls of Democratic voters, and she trails Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in Iowa and New Hampshire which hold the first two nominating contests in 2016. Republicans see the issue has raising questions about whether Clinton is trustworthy.

“Does the FBI or any other component of the Department of Justice currently have a criminal investigation open relating to Secretary Clinton’s private server?” the senators wrote Lynch. “If so, is Mr. Pagliano a subject of that investigation?”

The senators asked her to respond to this question and several others by Sept. 21.

Grassley, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Johnson, head of the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, have said they are considering offering Pagliano immunity from any potential prosecution in an effort to compel him to testify.

But Pagliano’s lawyers have resisted, in part because of uncertainty over how the Justice Department would perceive such an offer.

While the Justice Department generally prefers not to talk about ongoing cases, Grassley and Johnson said the information they are seeking is critical to help their committees decide whether to offer Pagliano immunity.

“The department received the letter and has no further comment,” said Justice Department spokeswoman Emily Pierce.

Grassley and Johnson sent a separate letter to Secretary of State John Kerry asking for records related to Pagliano’s service at the State Department and his role in the department’s handling of computerized information. The senators also are seeking payment records for Pagliano, including payments to him made by Clinton personally.

“Was the Department of State aware that, in addition to getting paid as a full-time employee at the department, Mr. Pagliano was also getting paid to manage Secretary Clinton’s private server?” Grassley and Johnson wrote. If so, who disclosed that information and when? they asked.

The senators said they want the State Department’s chief information officer, Steven Taylor, to submit to a transcribed interview with committee staff. Taylor was one of Pagliano’s supervisors at the State Department.

Pagliano appeared briefly behind closed doors last week before a House panel investigating the deadly 2012 Benghazi attacks. He refused to answer questions, asserting his constitutional right not to incriminate himself, committee members said.

Grassley and Johnson sent a third letter, to Pagliano himself, saying they were disappointed that he declined to answer questions from the Senate committees and asking him to reconsider. The letter was sent to Pagliano in care of his lawyers.

Federal investigators have begun looking into the security of Clintons’ email setup amid concerns from the inspector general for the intelligence community that classified information may have passed through the system. Clinton provided the server to the FBI last month.

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