A federal judge opened up to the possibility of serving subpoenas against Hilary Clinton and her chief of staff Huma Abedin to force the former Secretary of State to disclose her email account to the government.
The Washington Post reported Judge Emmet Sulllivan ruled on Tuesday that the State Department officials should be questioned under oath on the matter of whether they intentionally violated federal laws by allowing Clinton to use a private email service throughout her service as secretary of state.
The decision follows the lawsuit filed by Judicial Watch in which the conservative legal watchdog group requested in May 2013 to probe Huma Abedin's employment arrangement. It allowed to simultaneously work for a Clinton-backed foundation and another private firm during her tenure in the State Department.
Judge Sullivan's ruling grants Judicial Watch limited discovery on the matter. An April 12 deadline has been set to allow the parties time to devise a detailed investigative plan, which is subject to court approval.
Sullivan will consider the issuance of subpoenas after he goes over the result of the discovery process, The Washington Times noted.
The aim of the discovery order is to seek an extensive explanation on why the department and Clinton aides were permitted to use a private server to conduct official business, which consequently allowed Hilary Clinton to keep records of those transactions even after she left office.
The controversy was first revealed by a report published by the New York Times last March, according to CNN. At the time, two years had passed since Hilary Clinton left office.
"This case is about the public's right to know," Sullivan stated in granting the discovery order.
He added that Clinton's and the State Department's statements regarding the email created a "reasonable suspicion" that public access to official government records, as provided and protected by the Freedom of Information Act, was thwarted.
"The court-ordered discovery will help determine why the State Department and Mrs. Clinton, even despite receiving numerous FOIA requests, kept the record system secret for years," Judicial Watch President Thomas Fitton said.
The court ruling is considered by the Judicial Watch as a major victory to the group.
The FBI is also conducting a separate investigation into the set-up of the private server in question.
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