Bryan Pagliano to plead the Fifth in Judicial Watch deposition

Hillary Clinton’s private IT guy, Bryan Pagliano intends to plead the fifth for a second time rather than answer questions in a lawsuit brought by Judicial Watch. Fox News reports:

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Bryan Pagliano declined to answer questions from watchdog group Judicial Watch during his deposition scheduled for Monday, according to his lawyers.

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Pagliano, who worked on Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign before helping install the so-called “homebrew” server system in her Chappaqua, N.Y. home, cut an immunity deal last fall with the Justice Department amid the FBI probe. He was recently described to Fox News by an intelligence source as a “devastating witness.”

Pagliano previously pleaded the fifth last September when called to testify by the Benghazi Select Committee. Pagliano’s attorneys are seeking to prevent Judicial Watch from videotaping the deposition citing the “risk of abuse.” Politico reports:

“Given the constitutional implications, the absence of any proper purpose for video recording the deposition, and the considerable risk of abuse, the Court should preclude Judicial Watch, Inc. … from creating an audiovisual recording of Mr. Pagliano’s deposition.”

Acting on a request from another former aide to Clinton, Cheryl Mills, U.S. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan already ruled that videos of the sessions should be put under seal. However, Pagliano’s lawyers say there’s still a chance the video could emerge later either with or without permission from the court.

“Judicial Watch may move to unseal the materials at any time. Furthermore, in the event of a leak or data breach at the court reporting company, Mr. Pagliano would be hard-pressed to prevent further dissemination and republication of the video. Given that there is no proper purpose for videotaping the deposition in the first place, Judicial Watch’s preference should yield to the significant constitutional interests at stake,” Pagliano’s attorneys added.

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The fear here is that video of these depositions will wind up being used against Hillary Clinton, possibly in ads. Judicial Watch is said to be opposing the motion to prevent them from videotaping the Pagliano deposition.

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Ed Morrissey 10:00 PM | November 21, 2024
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