New Email Between Clinton and IT Staffer Who Pleaded Fifth

An anti-Clinton group is suggesting this email contradicts her sworn testimony.

ByABC News
October 19, 2016, 5:58 PM

— -- An email has surfaced between Hillary Clinton and her IT specialist Bryan Pagliano, the man responsible for maintaining her private email server -- and critics say that it may undermine her claim that she could not recall communicating with him.

The note was one of the nearly 15,000 additional emails recovered by the FBI, published today by the conservative group Judicial Watch, which obtained it through a freedom of information lawsuit.

The content of the 2012 email is mundane: Clinton is asking Pagliano to fix her BlackBerry, which has receiving message; but it may be significant in other ways.

First, it represents only the second known email recovered between Clinton and Pagliano, aside from a birthday message he sent her in 2012.

And second, some say it may be perceived by as yet another blow to her trustworthiness.

That's because in sworn testimony submitted as part of a separate email-related lawsuit also brought by Judicial Watch, Clinton says she does not recall having any communication with Pagliano about maintaining her private email account. In that testimony Clinton submitted that some version of the answer that "she does not recall" on 20 separate occasions.

"Secretary Clinton states that she does not recall having communications with Bryan Pagliano concerning or relating to the management, preservation, deletion, or destruction of any e-mails in her clintonemail.com email account," the testimony reads.

Read the emails here:

“These new emails leave little doubt that Hillary Clinton was less than forthright and misled the public when she wrote, under oath, that she ‘couldn’t recall’ communicating with Bryan Pagliano about her email scheme,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “No wonder Clinton and her agents deleted these emails time and time again."

While many like Judicial Watch feel Clinton was misleading, it's unlikely Clinton's words will cause her any legal troubles. Her declaration that she does not recall is far different from claiming there was no communication.

Pagliano invoked his Fifth Amendment rights 130 times during a court deposition involving Judicial Watch and did the same in front of a congressional panel. But he also struck and immunity agreement with the Justice Department in return for his cooperation with FBI investigators. The FBI ultimately concluded Clinton should not be prosecuted.

Clinton's campaign has yet to respond to a request for comment about this new email.

Related Topics