John Bentel Took the Fifth Today in Judicial Watch Deposition - SURPRISE!
How predictable that he would do so - they must be covering up some really smelly stuff.
Judicial Watch Press Release See their site (linked above) for embedded links. Bolding below is mine.
Clinton State Department IT Official John Bentel Takes Fifth Amendment During Judicial Watch Deposition
(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today that another witness in the Clinton email matter asserted his Fifth Amendment rights during a Judicial Watch deposition today. The deposition of John Bentel, the State Department’s former Director of Information Resource Management of the Executive Secretariat (“S/ES-IRM”), was ordered by U.S. District Court Judge Emmet G. Sullivan. S/ES-IRM is the office that handles information technology for the Office of the Secretary. Mr. Bentel answered over 90 questions with “On advice from my legal counsel, I decline to answer the question and I invoke my Fifth Amendment rights.”
Mr. Bentel, on advice of Obama Justice Department and personal counsel, refused to answer any questions about whether Hillary Clinton was paying his legal fees, offered him employment, or other financial incentives. There were three government attorneys and two personal attorneys present for the deposition.
On August 19, 2016, Judge Sullivan granted Judicial Watch’s request to depose Bentel, citing significant discrepancies in Bentel previous statements on the Clinton non-state.gov email system:
The Court is persuaded that Mr. Bentel should be deposed because the record in this case appears to contradict his sworn testimony before the [House Select] Benghazi Committee. . . . Specifically, Mr. Bentel testified that he was not aware that Secretary Clinton’s email account was housed on a private server until media reports in 2015. . . . However, several emails indicate Mr. Bentel knew about the private server as early as 2009.
In ordering Bentel’s deposition, Judge Sullivan also cited a May, 2016 Inspector General’s report that found:
Mr. Bentel told employees in his office that Secretary Clinton’s email arrangement had been approved by the State Department’s legal staff and also instructed his subordinates not to discuss the Secretary’s email again:
In one meeting, one staff member raised concerns that information sent and received on Secretary Clinton’s account could contain Federal records that needed to be preserved in order to satisfy Federal recordkeeping requirements. According to the staff member, the Director stated that the Secretary’s personal system had been reviewed and approved by Department legal staff and that the matter was not to be discussed any further. . . . According to the other S/ES-IRM staff member who raised concerns about the server, the Director stated that the mission of S/ES-IRM is to support the Secretary and instructed the staff never to speak of the Secretary’s personal email system again.
Judicial Watch deposed seven former Clinton top aides and current State Department officials, including top Clinton aides Cheryl Mills and Huma Abedin. Judicial Watch also deposed IT official Brian Pagliano, who asserted his Fifth Amendment right not to testify during the Judicial Watch deposition. And Clinton last week answered Judicial Watch’s question under oath regarding her non-government email system.
The depositions come in connection with a Judicial Watch Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit that seeks records about the controversial employment status of Huma Abedin, deputy chief of staff to former Secretary Clinton (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of State (No. 1:13-cv-01363 )).
“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,” stated Judicial Watch Tom Fitton.
The full case history of the Abedin employment lawsuit is accessible on the Judicial Watch website.
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Stay tuned - Judge Sullivan does not seem to have much sense of humor about the Clinton folks avoiding giving any answers. He'll likely have something to say about both this and the interrogatory responses from Clinton herself. Will he yet order Clinton to be deposed in person? She can't exactly take the Fifth herself in the middle of an election... And how will Congress respond to this near admission of lying to them?
Comments
They are
RUNNING OUT THE CLOCK.
Dammit...
Yeah, but they put out press releases that they would do that
WTF else could they possibly DO?!
I presume Chaffitz and Smith and, is it Johnson? Will give 'em heck tonight.
We'll see if the press actually covers any of the outrage and pushback. Or even Bentel's little show today...
'What we are left with is an agency mandated to ensure transparency and disclosure that is actually working to keep the public in the dark' - Ann M. Ravel, former FEC member
What else could they do - cheat some more!
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-10-23/new-podesta-email-exposes-dem-p...
Still think Trump is closer than Her Heinous & crew want to even imagine.
Agreed.
You know who's fired up all around us lately? Republicans! OMG, there are so many in this part of Florida, and they can't wait to vote against Her Heinous. The Trump signs are everywhere lately. Hell, the ones that blew away in Hurricane Matthew have been replaced and they have multiplied on top of that.
I have seen one bumper sticker for Her. I know and see nobody campaigning for Her. I know all of two people who will fess up to wanting to vote for Her. The rest of (family/friends/work peeps) are, in this order, for: Trump, Stein, Johnson. Some of the votes for Trump are actually votes against Her because she scares them more than he does.
Polls showing Her winning? Total bullshit, IMO. Completely contrived, made up, total bullshit.
Lol, your interesting link
Lol, your interesting link also led to this confirmation of your feelings.
(Same as happened with Bernie in the CNN debate, only less so.)
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-10-22/heres-30-seconds-after-last-deb...
Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.
A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.
Really loving Zero Hedge
Also, camera cut away as she had to walk down the steps, after the debate, with NO HAND RAIL...
this is almost funny, if it weren't so tragic...
DOJ and FBI immunity for Bentel coming in 3.2.1..
Two weeks until election day, fogeddaboutit. Nothing in the courts happens in 2 weeks. And once Hellery takes office all the documents/hard drives will be burned/smelted and the ashes dumped in the Mariana Trench. The Clinton administration will transfer the case to a pay-for-play judge and poof it's gone.
Hellery won this battle -- sad to admit.
Donnie The #ShitHole Douchebag. Fake Friend to the Working Class. Real Asshole.
Karma isn't done with her yet
one way or another, this dogs her until her dying day. Which maybe isn't that far off?
It occurred to me last night that maybe she doesn't give a shit because she's not gonna be with us much longer? You wonder sometimes...
He already has an immunity deal
Although I don't think perjuring himself to congress is covered.......is it?
She may well win this battle...
but I think the republicans are looking at the long war. The congressional committees will pick up where this leaves off and I have little doubt that the word impeachment is going to become one of the most used words by republicans in coming months.
“Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we.”
George W. Bush
With these politicos the 5th Amendment is forever safe; the 4th
is, and shall remain, a vague memory.
"The justness of individual land right is not justifiable to those to whom the land by right of first claim collectively belonged"
Interestingly enough, this comment made me wonder
how would they scrap part of the Constitution or Bill of Rights, but not all of them?
Does it become piecemeal, or does the whole thing go away at some point...? I know it's piecemeal now, but sooner or later it gets a Mack-truck sized hole in it and then it all becomes moot, doesn't it?
The claim will be that 'trade
The claim will be that 'trade deal' corporate law over-rides Constitutions and domestic law because traitorous, privately made, illegal and unconstitutional 'trade deals' say so, although the Constitution exists precisely to enshrine these rights, protections and freedoms in perpetuity, so that this sort of betrayal can never be claimed to be legal and binding.
Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.
A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.
Absolutely! More of the Bill of Rights going out the door:
Obama tried to limit freedom of the press by surveilling reporters to determine their sources and by defining what a "publisher" is. (Bet you a billion bucks wiki leaks was not going to make the cut.) The Patriot Act has limited freedom of speech. Separation of Church and State? HA!
I won't touch this one with a barge pole. I ain't that brave.
As far as I know, so far so good on quartering.
R.I.P.
We seem to be okay so far on grand juries and double jeopardy, at least for those who don't go straight to Gitmo or drone Paradise without passing Go. Pleading the Fifth is golden, at least for plutocrats. Due process? Meh. My advice? If you want due process, don't be poor and, above all, don't have an Arab surname. Just compensation for property taken by local, state or federal government has long been a joke.
For all of the Sixth, again, don't be poor and, above all, don't have an Arab surname.
I think we're okay on this one so far, assuming one gets a trial in the first place, but the amount in controversy is way above $20 now.
See Chelsea Manning, forced feeding, chemicals that are supposed to kill you quickly, but don't, etc.
HA!
See comment to Amendment IX.
And there you have it.
There are enough inconsistencies
In answers to the IG, congress, and email content, etc that pleading the 5th is no surprise.
Administrations sometimes get nicknames.
For JFK, it was Camelot.
For HRC, we could try "The Fifth Dimension." (But it will certainly be no "Age of Aquarius.")
Scam-a-lot
The earth is a multibillion-year-old sphere.
The Nazis killed millions of Jews.
On 9/11/01 a Boeing 757 (AA77) flew into the Pentagon.
AGCC is happening.
If you cannot accept these facts, I cannot fake an interest in any of your opinions.
We have a winner!
I hope some artistically gifted person comes along and makes a poster out of that. A parody of the title song from "Camelot" would have to come next.
I suspect that it will be "nuke-a-lot"
pretty quickly after the coronation... No smiley.
Yup. And it's been nice
Yup. And it's been nice knowing you all. Personally, I'm hoping for a direct never-know-what-hit-me but I doubt I'll be so lucky...
Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.
A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.
"Justice" such a funny little made-up word.
Journalists (the real ones) can be jailed for not revealing their sources while people in the inner circle can conceal crimes by pleading the Fifth. Outside of the elite, pleading the Fifth generally leads to a presumption of guilt, but not when it touches on the Clintons. Strange how that works.
On the other hand, are we being played by both sides? One does not need the words from the horse's mouth to prove that something illegal was done if the evidence is there. Ask Al Capone.
This and the many other examples of evading the truth by the Clintons and their cabal show exactly what they mean by transparency.
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.--Aristotle
If there is no struggle there is no progress.--Frederick Douglass
If I'm reading this correctly...
the Obama Justice Department also advised Bentel to take the 5th? Seems rather odd from a department that is supposed to be seeking truth and justice. I think it's time to change the name to the Obstruction of Justice Department. Seems far more accurate!
“Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we.”
George W. Bush
War is Peace
Justice is Tyranny
"I’m a human being, first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.” —Malcolm X
Yup, that is exactly what it says.
Obama's idea of transparency: Build a thick glass wall so the little ones can see us thumb our noses at them.
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.--Aristotle
If there is no struggle there is no progress.--Frederick Douglass
UNLESS - it's possible they've cut a deal with Bentel...
Nevermind. That might be true if it were anyone but a Clinton.
'What we are left with is an agency mandated to ensure transparency and disclosure that is actually working to keep the public in the dark' - Ann M. Ravel, former FEC member
He's probably high on the list
to play scapegoat. If I were him, I'd make a deal.
"... show exactly what they mean by transparency. "
nice one!
The revolution is in need of heroes.
Stein- Baraka 2016
(No subject)
Bangs head against a brick wall
How much more evidence is needed to bring these horrible people down? They are so overtly flaunting the laws and regulations that everyone else must abide by and yet they continue to get away with it unscathed.
My frustration is not just the State Department and the Clinton Foundation, each of which should merit a special prosecutor. My big frustration is how they have gotten away with what appears to be the destruction of our elections by massive vote rigging. Heck, the massive discrepancies in the exit polls alone should be the subject of a non-partisan investigation. But the Clintons operate with impunity and continue to do so. They are the modern day Mafia and they have done more to destroy this country than any other politicians in my lifetime. And now Hillary will most likely be rewarded with the Presidency so she can continue on her Shermanesque March of destruction of this country and the world.
It gets harder and harder to write when I am so angry and frustrated by these horrible human beings.
Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy
I hear ya, Sister...
And yet we must fight on.
'What we are left with is an agency mandated to ensure transparency and disclosure that is actually working to keep the public in the dark' - Ann M. Ravel, former FEC member
Famously Bribed Imitation--FBI
If any one thinks that the FBI investigation was on the up-and-up, except for James "the Weasel" Comey, think again: Lead agent in Clinton probe was bribed.
Lez face it, we ize a banana republik dictattershippe.
When da hole dam plates iz ful a curruptz hoomans, obammma, hiz jucetice dept, hiz fbeye, hiz estate dept, da mane streetz meedia, da puleeze depts, da ligiturslaturez, da surrocatz, and da subprimz curtz, we iz skrud!
Sooner or later
it is going to come crashing down around their ears. I hope I'm around to see it....
We could make it sooner if we could find some really good
NSA-HS-FBI-ETC proof encryption software. = )
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.--Aristotle
If there is no struggle there is no progress.--Frederick Douglass
The big fish swim off and the small fry get gaffed
Can't blame those folks for clamming up. The GOP is going to be looking for somebody to put through the wringer and the big shots are all too happy to sacrifice a few pawns and minor pieces to protect themselves. Given that their are enough laws and people willing to stretch them beyond all recognition, the "justice" system can pretty much put anyone without power behind bars.
Here is a timeline from Reddit #PodestaEmails18
From todays #Podesta18emails we have found (one of the many) #ID 31077 at wikileaks the smoking gun. Intent now proven.
Here is the timeline, which is confirmed by personal observation. It shows that subpoenaed government documents between Obama and Clinton were purposely and illegally destroyed.
https://wikileaks.org/podesta-emails/emailid/31077#efmAABABT
Timeline
March 2, 2015: The New York Times breaks the story that Clinton used a personal email account while secretary of state.
March 4, 2015: The Benghazi committee issues a subpoena requiring preservation of all the emails.
March 7, 2015 Barack Obama states he only learned about the private email arrangement from the media.
March 7, 2015 Cheryl Mills writes the email ID 31077 as revealed by Podesta Emails Part 18 : "we need to clean this up - he has emails from her - they do not say state.gov"
March, 25-31, 2015 "Just before" the following item according to media reports: Cheryl Mills and another Clinton lawyer Samuelson have a conference call with Paul Combetta. A conversation with Paul Combetta who is an IT specialist dealing with issues relating to the email server. (Combetta was also a Reddit user who was seeking help on Reddit back in 2014, about how to alter email records relating to a certain "VVIP" Very-Very-Important-Person)
March 25-31, 2015: The Platte River Networks employee, Paul Combetta deletes the email archive using a software called BleachBit. This deletion is permanent and irreversible. The evidence under congressional subpoena is completely destroyed
From the Light House.