One of Hillary Clinton's aides who helped maintain her private email server skipped a hearing of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Tuesday despite a subpoena.
Bryan Pagliano, a former staffer on Clinton's 2008 presidential bid who was granted immunity by the Justice Department during a probe of the server, has twice before invoked his Fifth Amendment rights on the matter.
The latest call to testify furthered "no legislative purpose and is a transparent effort to publicly harass and humiliate" him "for unvarnished political purposes," Pagliano's lawyers wrote to committee chair, Republican Rep. Jason Chaffetz of Utah.
Pagliano installed the main server that the Democratic presidential nominee used while she was secretary of state, and he handled software upgrades and general maintenance, according to files from an FBI investigation, which recommended no charges against Clinton or her aides.
Clinton's use of the private email server has dogged her campaign for more than a year and prompted a series of explanations and clarifications from the Democratic presidential candidate over her use of the system to send or receive classified information.
The FBI probe singled out Clinton and her aides for "extremely careless" handling of sensitive data.
Pagliano's lawyers have said his grant of immunity was limited and he had a fear of prosecution if he testified in other circumstances.
Chaffetz said in a letter Monday that the committee might vote to enter a private session but emphasized the subpoena remained in force.
Pagliano's lawyers responded early Tuesday, saying he would come to such a session but that he would again invoke his Fifth Amendment rights.
Two employees from Platte River Networks, a Denver-based technology firm the Clintons hired to maintain a successor server after Hillary Clinton left the State Department, were also called to testify.
They refused to answer questions from House lawmakers, invoking their right to remain silent under the Constitution's Fifth Amendment. One of them reportedly erased an archive of Clinton's emails despite an order for their preservation.
Chaffetz said the witnesses' silence will stall efforts to learn more about Clinton's use a private email server as secretary of state, The Los Angeles Times reported.
Rep. Elijah Cummings, the committee's ranking Democrat, defended the silence of Pagliano and the technicians at a hearing he believes is a political witch hunt.
"This committee is abusing taxpayer dollars and the authority of Congress in an astonishing onslaught of political attacks to damage Secretary Clinton's campaign," Cummings said.
He and other Democrats have long accused House Republicans of using their investigative powers as a political attack against Clinton.
Tuesday's hearing marked the committee's third in recent days.
Newsmax reporter Bill Hoffman contributed to this report.
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