Judicial Watch Moves to Unseal Deposition Video of Huma Abedin and Others

Conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch just filed a new motion in their Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the Department of State, but this time, it doesn’t pertain directly to their main claims relating to Hillary Clinton’s private email server. Instead, Judicial Watch is looking to have the videos from every deposition in the case unsealed so they can be released publicly.

According to the filing, there are four people who aren’t parties to the case that are opposing the request:

• Long-time Clinton aide Huma Abedin, also known as the estranged wife of former Congressman Anthony Weiner.
• Cheryl Mills, the Deputy White House Counsel turned Clinton aide.
• Bryan Pagliano, the IT staffer who set up the email server in Clinton’s Chappaqua, NY home.
• John Bentel, who was the Director of Information Resources Management under Clinton’s Department of State.

Mills had argued in her motion to have the deposition videos sealed that discretion was necessary because Judicial Watch or another group might “exploit her image and words, as part of a partisan attack against Secretary Clinton and her presidential campaign.” The court ended up granting Mills’ motion, only for a group of media companies to ask for reconsideration of that decision. Mills and Pagliano opposed that motion, which is still pending before the court.

Since Mills’ request was built, in large part, on the videos being used to influence the election, Judicial Watch argues that her logic is now moot. Judicial Watch also supplemented that argument by quoting the media companies’ argument about the depositions being in the public.

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