Last year, after it was revealed that Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton used a private email server while she was secretary of state, the Republican National Committee filed a Freedom of Information Act request for access to those emails.
Among the emails requested were official communications from Bryan Pagliano, the computer technician who set up the server. He is a central figure in the FBI’s investigatio of Clinton’s likely mishandling of classified material, but has now become a central figure in a new legal proceeding.
When the State Department refused to comply with the RNC’s FOIA request, it filed a lawsuit similar to one filed by Judicial Watch. Monday, the GOP announced the lawsuit had brought forth “a troubling new piece of information” in Clinton’s ongoing email scandal.
“Surprise, surprise, the records from the period Clinton served as Secretary of State are mysteriously missing,” the RNC said in an official statement. “It is hard to believe than an IT staffer who set up Hillary Clinton’s reckless email server never sent or received a single work-related email in the four years he worked at the State Department.
“Such records might shed light on his role in setting up Clinton’s server, and why the FBI granted him immunity. But it seems that his emails were either destroyed or never turned over, adding yet another layer to the secrecy surrounding his role.
“While Clinton maintains that her secret email server was “fully above board” and that “everyone” knew about it, tech officials at State did not know the private server even existed until news broke last year. Even more baffling is why Pagliano, who was an employee of the State Department, was privately paid by the Clintons for the server’s set-up and upkeep.”
FOX News reports that the State Department’s release of 30,000 emails to Congress includes at least one email from Pagliano—a brief email wishing Clinton a happy birthday in 2012. It also independently confirmed that State Department lawyers told the RNC’s lawyers that “no responsive records exist” relating to communications between Clinton and Pagliano.
