Chaffetz Asks Justice To Indict Hillary Clinton Crony

By streiff | 3:19 PM on February 17, 2017

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FILE - In this Sept. 10, 2015 file photo, Bryan Pagliano, center, a former State Department employee who helped set up and maintain a private email server used by Hillary Rodham Clinton, departs Capitol Hill in Washington. Hillary Clintons work-related emails from her private account are now public, more than 52,000 pages detailing her tenure as Americas top diplomat but failing to resolve questions about how she and her closest aides handled classified information. Several investigations continue looking into her exclusive use of a non-government email account and homebrew server while in government, an issue that has dogged her campaign, even though she seems well-positioned to capture the Democratic presidential nomination. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen, Lee)

And just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water:

The Republican chairman of the House Oversight Committee, who has refused Democratic requests to investigate possible conflicts of interest involving President Donald Trump, is seeking criminal charges against a former State Department employee who helped set up Hillary Clinton’s private email server.

Rep. Jason Chaffetz of Utah sent a letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Thursday asking him to convene a grand jury or charge Bryan Pagliano, the computer specialist who helped establish Clinton’s server while she was secretary of state.

Pagliano did not comply with two subpoenas ordering him to appear before the oversight panel. The GOP-led committee later voted to hold him in contempt of Congress.

…

Chaffetz said in a statement that allowing Pagliano’s conduct “to go unaddressed would gravely harm Congress’ ability to conduct oversight.”

While some are portraying this as a vindictive pursuit of Hillary Clinton’s email scandal, not that that would not a be a laudable goal all by itself, in reality what Chaffetz is concerned about is the inability of Congress to actually conduct investigations if Justice refuses to act on criminal contempt citations issued for refusing to even appear before a committee.