washington<u+2014>a former state department official invoked his constitutional right not to answer questions monday<u+00a0>as part of a lawsuit stemming from hillary clinton <u+2019>s use of a private email server while serving in the government. john bentel, who served as a top information technology staffer during mrs. clinton<u+2019>s time as secretary of state, declined to answer more than 90 questions as part of a deposition in a freedom of information act lawsuit against the state department, according to the<u+00a0>conservative group judicial watch, which brought the lawsuit. as part of the suit, judicial watch was granted permission to interview a number of current and former state department officials about how and why mrs. clinton used a home-based email server for all her government business. the lawsuit seeks records from mrs. clinton<u+2019>s time in office. a judge also ordered mrs. clinton to answer written questions but declined to require her to testify in person. she isn't a defendant in the lawsuit. <u+201c>as is standard, the department cannot comment as this matter is in ongoing litigation. beyond that, we would refer you to mr. bentel and his representatives,<u+201d> a state department official said. two attorneys for mr. bentel didn<u+2019>t immediately respond to a request for comment. mr. bentel is the second former state department official to avoid answering questions as part of judicial watch<u+2019>s lawsuit. bryan pagliano, who helped set up mrs. clinton<u+2019>s server, also invoked his right against self-incrimination when testifying as part of the lawsuit. cheryl mills, who served as mrs. clinton<u+2019>s chief of staff in government and her lawyer, cited rules protecting attorney-client privilege to avoid answering a number of questions. <u+201c>the fact that yet another state department official took the fifth highlights the disturbing implication that criminal acts took place related to the clinton email and our freedom of information act requests,<u+201d> said judicial watch<u+2019>s president, tom fitton. the fifth amendment protects the right of americans not give statements that might implicate them in a crime and isn't an admission of guilt or criminal activity. write to byron tau at byron.tau@wsj.com
former state department official declines to answer questions in clinton email lawsuit - wsj
byron tau