WASHINGTON – Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley and Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Chairman Ron Johnson are asking for details of the reported immunity agreement reached between the Justice Department and former State Department employee Bryan Pagliano, who managed then-Secretary Clinton’s personal email server.
“From the get-go, Bryan Pagliano was clearly a key witness in getting to the bottom of why Secretary Clinton used an unsecure personal email server that improperly stored highly classified information. The Justice Department is now one step closer to getting some much-needed answers. However, this is not just a matter of protecting the sensitive National Security information in some of the emails. It is also about a systematic effort to avoid freedom of information laws and federal record keeping requirements. The public’s work ought to be public and the records of the government's business belong to the people, not to powerful political appointees. Yet it is unclear whether the FBI is examining those issues as well.
“While an unnamed senior law enforcement official is briefing a newspaper about the inquiry, the Justice Department has failed to officially confirm to Congress the nature and scope of its investigation, despite specific, reasonable, and legitimate requests for information. That is a shame,” Grassley said.
Pagliano was reportedly tasked with maintaining Clinton’s personal email server while she was Secretary of State. He was also reportedly paid privately by the Clintons while simultaneously earning a government salary as a State Department employee. Prior to joining the State Department, he worked on the email system for Clinton’s 2008 campaign.
Last year, Pagliano exercised his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination when choosing not to cooperate with any congressional or Justice Department inquiry into Clinton’s server arrangement. Grassley and Johnson asked Attorney General Loretta Lynch whether the Justice Department would consider granting Pagliano immunity in exchange for information related to any ongoing inquiry or investigation into the matter and whether such an agreement would include a requirement that Pagliano cooperate with congressional committees carrying out their oversight responsibilities. In response, the Justice Department declined to confirm the existence of any such inquiry.
In letters today to the Justice Department and Pagliano, Grassley and Johnson are seeking the details of the reported immunity pact and answers to the questions in their previous letter. Text of the letters to the Justice Department and Pagliano follow:
March 3, 2016
VIA ELECTRONIC TRANSMISSION
The Honorable Loretta Lynch
Attorney General
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530
Dear Attorney General Lynch:
We are writing regarding the immunity agreement between the Department of Justice and Mr. Bryan Pagliano, the IT Specialist who was responsible for managing former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s non-government email server and related matters during her time leading the State Department. In light of yesterday’s Washington Post article reporting that the Department of Justice has granted immunity to Mr. Pagliano, we request a copy of that immunity agreement.
As you know, in our September 14, 2015 request, the Committees specifically asked that you ensure that any agreement between the Department and Mr. Pagliano include a provision that requires Mr. Pagliano to cooperate fully with our Committees’ investigation. Subsequently, in a phone call with the Judiciary Committee on September 28, 2015, you stated that the Department had yet to make a determination on how it would approach Mr. Pagliano. Now that the decision has apparently been made, the Department should provide a copy of the agreement and answer the questions in our previous letter so that the Committees may assess how best to secure Mr. Pagliano’s cooperation. The Committees believe that Mr. Pagliano possesses unique information about Secretary Clinton’s private email account and server that is vital to the Committees’ ongoing inquiries into this matter.
Accordingly, we request a copy of the immunity agreement between Mr. Pagliano and the Department by March 10, 2016. Thank you for your prompt cooperation with this request.
March 3, 2016
VIA ELECTRONIC TRANSMISSION
Mr. Bryan M. Pagliano
c/o Mark MacDougall, Esq.
Constance O’Connor, Esq.
Connor Mullin, Esq.
Sean D’Arcy, Esq.
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP
1333 New Hampshire Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20036
Dear Mr. Pagliano:
We are writing to request that you reconsider your decision to not participate in an interview with the Committees in light of the recent news that you have been granted immunity by the Department of Justice. We respect your constitutional rights and any legitimate personal assertion of your Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination. However, the privilege is confined to instances in which the witness has reasonable cause to apprehend danger of prosecution based on his answers. See Hoffman v. U.S., 341 U.S. 479, 486 (1951). Because the Department of Justice has granted you immunity from prosecution in this situation, there is no longer reasonable cause for you to believe that discussing these matters with the relevant oversight committees could result in your prosecution. Accordingly, we write to request that you make yourself available to provide information relevant to the Committees’ ongoing examination of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email account and server during her time at the State Department. In addition, we request that you provide a copy of the immunity agreement.
As mentioned in our prior correspondence, on August 19, 2015, staff of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee requested an informal, voluntary interview with you to which you, through your attorney, declined and suggested you would likely avail yourself of your Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. Then, on August 28, 2015, staff of the Judiciary Committee reached out to you seeking an interview regarding your role in setting up and maintaining Secretary Clinton’s private email and server. In response, your attorneys suggested that you would rely on your Fifth Amendment right and decline to answer any questions the Committee posed. In an attempt to find a path forward, we wrote to you and your attorneys requesting your attorneys meet with Committee staff to explore alternative options, such as a proffer session, to obtain the unique information you possess. Rather than meet with Committee staff, your attorneys declined to participate in any further discussions. On September 14, 2015, we wrote to you again to reconsider your decision to not voluntarily engage with the Committees. On September 15, 2015, your attorneys again declined to cooperate with Committee staff to discuss possible alternatives to obtain your testimony.
As the Committees continue investigating Secretary Clinton’s use of a private email account and server, and in light of your recent grant of immunity by the Department of Justice, the Fifth Amendment privilege is no longer applicable, and we are thus reintroducing our request to speak with you voluntarily regarding your involvement with Secretary Clinton’s private email account and server. We are also reintroducing our October 8, 2015 request that you produce all documents and communications sent or received from your @pagliano.com email address referring or relating to Secretary Clinton’s use of a private email account or server. The Committees believe that you possess unique information about this matter that is otherwise unavailable and would appreciate your full cooperation with the Committees’ requests, including providing a copy of the immunity agreement. As such, we request that you or your attorney contact Committee staff by March 10, 2016 to arrange the interview and production of responsive documents.
Thank you for your attention to this important matter.
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