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Clinton tech aide plans to take the Fifth at deposition
POLITICO

By Josh Gerstein

06/01/16 05:56 PM EDT

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A former information technology adviser to Hillary Clinton plans to exercise his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination at a deposition next week and wants to prevent any video recording being made of the session.
Lawyers for former State Department tech specialist Bryan Pagliano said in a court filing Wednesday that there's no valid reason to make an audio or video recording of the session since Pagliano doesn't plan to answer any of the questions he's asked by the conservative group Judicial Watch, which is pursuing a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit related to Clinton's private email server. The group is scheduled to take Pagliano's deposition on Monday.

"Mr. Pagliano will invoke his right under the Fifth Amendment and decline to testify at the deposition," Pagliano's lawyers Mark MacDougall and Connor Mullin wrote. "Given the constitutional implications, the absence of any proper purpose for video recording the deposition, and the considerable risk of abuse, the Court should preclude Judicial Watch, Inc. ... from creating an audiovisual recording of Mr. Pagliano’s deposition."
Acting on a request from another former aide to Clinton, Cheryl Mills, U.S. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan already ruled that videos of the sessions should be put under seal. However, Pagliano's lawyers say there's still a chance the video could emerge later either with or without permission from the court.
"Judicial Watch may move to unseal the materials at any time. Furthermore, in the event of a leak or data breach at the court reporting company, Mr. Pagliano would be hard-pressed to prevent further dissemination and republication of the video. Given that there is no proper purpose for videotaping the deposition in the first place, Judicial Watch’s preference should yield to the significant constitutional interests at stake," Pagliano's attorneys added.
A spokesman for Clinton's presidential campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the development.
Judicial Watch indicated Wednesday that it will resist the proposal to ban video recording.