Washington (AFP) – A former aide to Hillary Clinton who set up the controversial private email server she used while secretary of state ignored an order to testify on Tuesday before a congressional committee.
Bryan Pagliano’s absence is likely to add fuel to a raging debate about Clinton’s own transparency as she enters the final stretch of the US presidential elections.
Questions about the Democratic nominee’s penchant for secrecy ignited again over the weekend after her sudden illness at a 9/11 ceremony Sunday and the belated disclosure that she was diagnosed on Friday with pneumonia.
Pagliano was subpoenaed by Congress to testify at a Republican-led House of Representatives committee hearing on the email controversy Tuesday, but failed to show up.
“When you are served a subpoena by the United States Congress, that is not optional,” Jason Chaffetz, chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said.
“His attendance is required here,” the Utah congressman added.
Chaffetz said the panel would consider other means to force the former senior State Department adviser to appear.
The Washington Post reported that Pagliano’s lawyer sent Chaffetz a letter saying that his client would continue to assert his constitutional right not to answer questions.
Last year, Pagliano also refused to testify at a House hearing investigating the deadly 2012 attacks on the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya.
The House Oversight panel said Tuesday’s hearing was called to “examine the circumstances leading to the failure to preserve federal records during Hillary Clinton’s tenure as secretary of state.”
Pagliano was granted immunity in a separate FBI criminal probe into the security of Clinton’s server and whether classified information was compromised.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation announced in July it would not recommend that Clinton be prosecuted but found her to be “extremely careless” in her handling of classified material.
Republicans have made Clinton’s use of a private email server while secretary of state a recurring issue in the White House race, with Republican candidate Donald Trump citing it repeatedly to raise doubts about her fitness to serve.
Critics say the use of a private server made official US correspondence vulnerable to hacking by foreign governments and terror operatives.
It first came to light in 2015 during Republican-led congressional investigations into her handling of the militant attack on the US mission in Benghazi.
The attack on September 11, 2012 resulted in the deaths of the US ambassador and three other Americans.
Republican lawmakers accuse the FBI of showing unacceptable lenience in their treatment of Clinton.
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