The Bad News and Questions about Hillary's Secret Email Server Keep Coming

The Wall Street Journal reported in early June that the FBI investigation into Hillary Clinton's private email setup includes messages sent on a less-secure government network that discussed specific CIA drone strikes in Pakistan. The WSJ says many of the 22 emails the State Department refuses to release because of national security concerns date back to 2011 and 2012 and deal with these strikes. According to the WSJ, an agreement between the CIA and the State Department made the CIA give notice to US diplomats before carrying out an enemy strike. And, says the WSJ, these messages "found their way from the field in Pakistan to the US ambassador there, and then to Clinton's aides in Washington." Some of the messages were forwarded to Clinton's non-secure email. The WSJ says the emails were sent on what's called the "low side," a less-secure government network used for unclassified material. None of the messages contain "CIA," "drones," or specific information about each strike, sources told the WSJ, but they contained enough information for all parties to make a decision on whether to go ahead with the strike. The WSJ article says officials told it no evidence exists to suggest that intelligence officials in Pakistan intercepted the messages. ~~~~~ Then, we learned last week that the IT expert responsible for Hillary Clinton’s private email server refused to answer any substantive questions during a 90-minute deposition in a Judicial Watch FOIA lawsuit. Bryan Pagliani stated his name, said three times that he understood procedural rules of the under-oath interview, but otherwise declined to say a single word when asked 130 questions, other than to plead his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination : “On advice of counsel, I will decline to answer your question in reliance on my rights under the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution.” Pagliano’s reliance on the Fifth Amendment was expected, having been announced by his lawyers in a notice to the court. But it will reflect badly on Clinton, whom the judge has said could be forced to answer questions herself, because Pagliano’s refusal to talk means that key details about her email system remain unexplained and she may be asked to explain them. ~~~~~ JW lawyers also questioned Pagliano’s repeated reliance on the Fifth Amendment, talking among themselves during the interview about how he might be trying to protect himself : “To raise a Fifth Amendment privilege, there must be a reasonable basis for it, and it must be appropriate, not just for purposes of obstructing the deposition. We'll reserve [the right] to go back to the court and to compel [answers] if we deem that it is appropriate." JW said it may ask the court to decide if the privilege "has been properly asserted.” Unlike the use of the Fifth Amendment in criminal cases, its use in civil cases may be used by opposing counsel to draw negative inferences about the witness. Pagliano received only limited immunity in the FBI Clinton email investigation. In court filings ahead of his deposition, Pagliani's lawyers and the Justice Department refused to state the terms of the agreement or say how he might be assisting the FBI investigation, warning that the limited nature of his deal could leave him open to prosecution for incriminating information he divulged outside any immunity-protected sessions. The federal court in the FOIA case ruled last week that Pagliano's immunity deal could remain secret. ~~~~~ Dear readers, AP also disclosed on Friday that Hillary failed to turn over a copy of a key message involving problems caused by her use of a private home-based email server. The State Department confirmed this. AP says the damaging disclosure makes it unclear -- despite Clinton's repeated assurances that "all" work-related emails were turned over to State -- "what other work-related emails may have been deleted by the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee." In the November 2010 email, Hillary wrote : “I don’t want any risk of the personal being accessible.” Tomorrow -- Hillary's secret meetings.