Politics

Hillary’s Former IT Aide Defies Congressional Subpoena To Show At Clinton Hearing

(REUTERS/Gary Cameron)

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Bryan Pagliano, Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s former IT aide who managed her private email server, shunned a congressional subpoena to appear Tuesday at a House panel’s hearing on the Department of State’s records preservation practices.

“It’s a serious matter,” House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform (HOGR) Chairman and Utah Republican Rep. Jason Chaffetz said in the hearing, facing Pagliano’s empty chair. “Mr. Pagliano has chosen to evade the subpoena.”

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform invited Pagliano, along with IT contractors from Denver-based Platte River Networks (PRN) Clinton used to host her private email server, to testify before the committee in their second of three hearings in one week on Clinton’s emails.

PRN employees Bill Thornton and Paul Combetta did show up to testify, along with Justin Cooper, a senior advisor to former President Bill Clinton who also helped with Clinton’s email server. (RELATED: Hillary’s IT Firm Did Not Have Proper Security Clearance)

But Chaffetz immediately honed in on Pagliano’s noticeable absence how he “thumb(ed) his nose at the United States Congress.” Pagliano has become a central figure in the Clinton server scandal. (RELATED: Chaffetz: FBI Asked For Return Of Clinton Emails)

Chaffetz’ committee also subpoenaed Pagliano for a supposed immunity agreement from the Department of Justice, which he did not release.

Pagliano asserted his Fifth Amendment rights more than 125 times when he testified before the House Select Committee on Benghazi, and Pagliano’s lawyer indicated to Chaffetz that Pagliano may do the same at Tuesday’s hearing if he showed.

Chaffetz made it clear he wasn’t going to let Pagliano slide.

“He made the decision not to be here, and there are consequences for that,” Chaffetz said, adding that he would consider a “full range of options” for punishing Pagliano’s refusal.

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