ENLARGE WASHINGTON—State Department officials proposed setting up a separate computer system to accommodate former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, according to new testimony released Thursday.
Lewis Lukens, a State Department official who worked on logistical issues for Mrs. Clinton during her time in office, proposed giving the former Secretary of State a computer in her office to allow her to check her non-State Department email account.
Mr. Lukens testified that he suggested such an arrangement for "ease of access"—and to help Mrs. Clinton avoid the cumbersome login process that all other department employees needed to go through to use the department's systems.
The plan was never implemented, in part because a top aide to Mrs. Clinton wrote that she "does not know how to use a computer to do email"—only her BlackBerry smartphone. But the testimony shows the lengths to which State Department officials went to give Mrs. Clinton options beyond using the department's computer systems.
In his testimony, Mr. Lukens said he wasn't aware Mrs. Clinton was using personal email for work purposes.
"My understanding was [that it was] for her to stay in touch with family and friends," he said during the two hour deposition.
Mr. Lukens's testimony comes as part of a lawsuit by the conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch against the State Department. The lawsuit, which doesn't name Mrs. Clinton as a defendant, seeks records from her time in office.
A State Department spokesperson didn't immediately respond to a request for comment, but the Department has a long-standing policy against commenti ng on ongoing litigation.
Judge Emmet Sullivan, who was appointed to his current position by former President Bill Clinton, has indicated that he intends to use the legal proceedings against the department to explore why Mrs. Clinton was permitted to use a private email server for all her government business.
"The public has a right to know details related to the creation, purpose and use of the clintonemail.com system. Thus, the transcripts of all depositions taken in this case will be publicly available," Judge Sullivan wrote in an order Thursday.
He did agree on Thursday to a request from a top aide to Mrs. Clinton that audio and video of the testimony not be released to the public, calling it unnecessary.
Mr. Lukens is one of several current and former department officials expected to give testimony in the civil lawsuit, including top aides to Mrs. Clinton. Her chief of staff Cheryl Mills is set to testify on Friday.
The testimony also came on the same day that a State Department inspector general publicly released a report critical of Mrs. Clinton's use of a private email server. The inspector general concluded that Mrs. Clinton erred in not using department systems and criticized use of a private email server as a breach of record-keeping rules, internal State Department information technology policies and cybersecurity practices.
Mrs. Clinton has denied any wrongdoing, but acknowledged Thursday that using her own email server run out of her home was a mistake[9] in judgment.
"It was allowed," Mrs. Clinton said in a Thursday television interview in Las Vegas. "And the rules have been clarified since I left about the practice. Having said that, I have said many times it was a mistake and if I could go back, I would do it differently."
Write to Byron Tau at byron.tau@wsj.com[10]
References
- ^ CANCEL (www.wsj.com)
- ^ Biography (topics.wsj.com)
- ^ @ByronTau (twitter.com)
- ^ byron.tau@wsj.com (www.wsj.com)
- ^ 1 COMMENTS (www.wsj.com)
- ^ Hillary Clinton Defends Her Email Use After Critical Report (www.wsj.com)
- ^ After a Week, Hillary Clinton Wins Kentucky Primary (www.wsj.com)
- ^ Hillary Clinton Seeks Momentum in California Race (www.wsj.com)
- ^ email server run out of her home was a mistake (www.wsj.com)
- ^ byron.tau@wsj.com (www.wsj.com)
Source ↔ Download MP3 Terbaru
