Former U.S. Attorney sees a "red flag" with Hillary's email scandal

Eh, what's up, doc?

Beth Wilkinson is an attorney representing four main figures in the FBI investigation of Hillary Clinton's email malpractice. This is what Matthew Whitaker, a former U.S. attorney and now running a government watchdog group calls a "red flag."

Wilkinson is representing former chief of staff Cheryl Mills; media gatekeeper Philippe Reines; Jake Sullivan policy adviser, and former aide Heather Samuelson, the person who helped Hillary decide which Clinton emails were the most damaging and therefore had to be destroyed before turning over to the State Department the 30,000 that remained.

"I think it would be a real red flag," Whitaker said, referring to the legal defense tactic. He is the executive director of the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT). He believes that having a single lawyer helps the four get their stories straight for the FBI interviews.

That would imply that something untoward was perpetrated by these four in service of the Clinton dynasty. Otherwise, what's the big deal? 

"The benefit is to have one lawyer's brain have all the knowledge of the various pieces and parts, and so each of those potential targets or subjects of the investigation get to share information across that same attorney--and quite frankly get their story to sync up and understand what other people know of the situation," Whitaker said.

Wilkinson is a Washington D.C. lawyer who's married to former NBC "Meet the Press" host David Gregory. When asked for comment, her office gave no immediate response as it has been their practice not to respond to the press on this case.

Whitaker explained that "All you're trying to do is seek the truth, and when someone is sharing a lawyer, you worry that the interview that you just did an hour ago with that attorney has been shared with the next witness and they can fix or reconcile their story to be the same."

Why that isn't illegal is anybody's guess--it ought to be. And while it isn't the norm, the legal representation hasn't been challenged by Justice Department officials, perhaps because, hey,  it's Hillary Clinton, after all.

In April, Cheryl Mills and Wilkinson blocked questions about Bryan Pagliano, Clinton's IT specialist and a key figure in the probe. Although Pagliano struck an immunity deal with the Justice Department last year, now he is seeking to invoke the Fifth Amendment right not to answer questions in the same Judicial Watch proceedings. That's what is known as wanting to have it both ways.

FACT is seeking the emails of Dennis Cheng, Clinton's former deputy chief of protocol at the State Department. His records may reveal a connection between the slush fund known as the Clinton Foundation and Hillary Clinton's time as secretary of state. 

Cheng was the main person dealing with senior foreign government officials, and there were only a few emails of his among the 30,000 she turned over when she apparently felt comfortable to do so. Cheng was also a consultant to the William J. Clinton Foundation.

The plot sickens.


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