Grassley considering immunity for former Clinton IT specialist

From Press Release

 

Citing the unique information he may possess, Senate Judiciary Committee and Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee chairmen Chuck Grassley and Ron Johnson are considering next steps to obtain the testimony of former State Department and Clinton family employee Bryan Pagliano, who was reportedly paid to maintain Clinton’s personal server in New York while she was Secretary of State.  Chairmen Grassley and Johnson indicated that these next steps may include, if appropriate, seeking an immunity order.

After being contacted by both Senate committees on several occasions, last week, Pagliano’s attorneys indicated that he would exercise his constitutional right under the Fifth Amendment to avoid being compelled to provide testimony that might be used to prosecute him.   

According to campaign finance records and news reports, Pagliano was paid by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s Senate Leadership PAC through April 2009 and then was paid by the State Department as an Information Technology Specialist while continuing to act as the lead specialist responsible for Clinton’s private server in New York.

In a letter to Pagliano and his attorneys, Grassley and Johnson wrote, “The Committees will certainly respect and defer to any legitimate assertion of an individual’s constitutional rights. With that being said, the Committees also need the unique information you likely have in order to exercise their oversight functions under the Constitution, which are unrelated to any potential prosecution or criminal inquiry.  Thus, the Committees have the authority to obtain an immunity order, to acquire the information they need, while also protecting your right against self-incrimination.”

The chairmen added, “Given the issues raised by your attorney and in order for the Committees to assess whether it would be appropriate for either Committee to consider obtaining an immunity order in these circumstances, we ask that your attorneys meet with the Committees’ staff to explore how to obtain the unique information you possess while respecting your constitutional rights, such as the possibility of a proffer session so that we can better understand what your testimony would be without any waiver of your rights.”

CLICK HERE to read the entire letter.