[Wash Examiner] Cheryl Mills, Hillary Clinton's former chief of staff, received an immunity deal from the Justice Department during the year-long FBI investigation of Clinton's server.Two other State Department staffers, John Bentel and Heather Samuelson, were also given immunity agreements, bringing the total number of witnesses who were protected by deals to five.
Bryan Pagliano, Clinton's former IT aide, and Paul Combetta, an employee at the firm hired to manage her server after she left the State Department, received such protection through deals that were reported previously.
The immunity agreements given to Mills and Samuelson covered the evidence recovered from their computers, a Democratic staffer told the Washington Examiner. The deals did not extend to their testimony before Congress or to the information they told the FBI, the staffer said.
Pagliano was held in contempt of Congress Thursday for his failure to comply with a subpoena for testimony and documents. Combetta appeared before the House Oversight Committee last week, but invoked his Fifth Amendment rights and refused to answer questions.
The FBI has said Clinton and her staff exhibited "extreme carelessness" by sharing classified information on an unsecured server that was kept in Clinton's basement.
Rep. Jason Chaffetz, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, said the immunity deals were "beyond explanation."
"I've lost confidence in this investigation and I question the genuine effort in which it was carried out," Chaffetz said in a statement. "Immunity deals should not be a requirement for cooperating with the FBI."
The Utah Republican said the FBI was "handing out immunity agreements like candy."
| Ordinarily the grant of immunity is a trap for the person receiving the grant: now that the 5th Amendment protection against self-incrimination no longer applies, you HAVE to testify -- if you refuse you're held in contempt, and if you lie you're charged with perjury. But that assumes that someone FORCES you to testify. Ordinarily that would be the DoJ which would put you on the witness stand. But what if there is no trial, no grand jury and no witness stand? You're home scot-free. So the granting of immunity is only half the story. The other half is the refusal of the DoJ and FBI to compel their testimony. |