House panel finds ex-Clinton aide in contempt

WASHINGTON — A House committee on Thursday began the process of holding a former Hillary Clinton aide in contempt of Congress for his failure to appear before the panel under subpoena.

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee approved a contempt of Congress resolution by a party-line vote of 19-15 because the former StateDepartment aide, Bryan Pagliano, did not attend its 10 a.m. hearing to testify about his role in setting up Clinton’s private email server in 2009.

“Subpoenas are not optional,” Chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, said. “This committee cannot perform its duty ... if subpoenas are ignored, so we are left with no choice but to consider this resolution.”

Pagliano failed to attend a related hearing Sept. 13 to answer questions about Clinton’s record-keeping, noting he previously invoked his constitutional right against self-incrimination when asked about the same topic by the House Select Committee on Benghazi.

His position the same ahead hearing.

“You and the Committee have been told from the beginning thatMr. Pagliano remained of Thursday’s will continue to assert his Fifth Amendment rights and will decline to answer any questions put to him by your Committee,” Pagliano’s attorneys with Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld wrote to Chaffetz Wednesday night.

“In an effort to resolve this matter, Mr. Pagliano has offered to assert his rights on the record before this Committee in Executive Session. You have flatly refused that offer and continue to insist that Mr. Pagliano appear in a public session where his further and repeated assertion of his constitutional right not to testify can be videotaped and broadcast.”

Totake effect, acontempt resolution must be approved by the full House, after which the matter moves to the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, who would decide whether or not to prosecute.

Pagliano’s lawyers suggested Chaffetz wanted Pagliano to appear in person to take the fifth to create a photo opportunity that would damage Clinton’s presidential campaign.

Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, the panel’s senior Democrat, bemoaned the spectacle, calling it “a ... partisan Republican attack on the Democratic candidate for president.”