Judge orders Hillary Clinton to appear for deposition in lawsuit over emails, Benghazi records

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been ordered by a federal judge to appear in person to answer questions under oath as part of a yearslong lawsuit over her use of a private email server and records regarding the 2012 attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya, during her tenure in the Obama administration.

What are the details?

U.S. District Court Judge Royce Lamberth granted the request of government watchdog group Judicial Watch on Monday to have Clinton deposed over whether or not she intentionally used a private email server during her time as head of the State Department to circumvent Freedom of Information Act requests.

The Daily Caller noted:

Several reporters filed FOIA requests for Clinton's State Department emails while she was in office, only to be told that the agency did not have any responsive records.

Clinton did not provide her State Department emails to the agency until late 2014, in response to congressional requests as part of an investigation into the Sept. 11, 2012 terrorist attacks in Benghazi, Libya.

Clinton handed over only around half of the 60,000 emails that were stored on her server. She claimed that the others were private in nature and did not involve State Department business.

Clinton previously answered interrogatories in the case brought by Judicial Watch, which Judge Lamberth acknowledged. He wrote in his order that "the Court believes those responses were either incomplete, unhelpful, or cursory at best. Simply put, her responses left many more questions than answers."

Judge Lamberth added, "To avoid the unsatisfying and inefficient outcome of multiple rounds of fruitless interrogatories and move this almost six-year-old case closer to its conclusion, Judicial Watch will be permitted to clarify and further explore Secretary Clinton's answers in person and immediately after she gives them. The Court agrees with Judicial Watch—it is time to hear directly from Secretary Clinton."

Judicial Watch celebrated the judge's decision. President Tom Fitton said in a statement, "Judicial Watch uncovered the Clinton email scandal and we're pleased that the court authorized us to depose Mrs. Clinton directly on her email conduct and how it impacted the people's 'right to know' under FOIA."

Anything else?

According to The Hill, the order by Judge Lamberth "is the first requiring Clinton to testify under oath in person on the subject of the 2012 attack on the U.S. compound in Benghazi and the Obama administration's response at the time."