Many people seem to be conflating the FBI probe, which could plausibly end up with criminal charges against someone (as, for instance the Patreaus investigation did) , with this case, which is a civil lawsuit brought by Judicial Watch. At most people could be fined or ordered to produce records they have hidden, but not jailed. You can't sue someone into jail.
Specifically:
- The FBI are not part of the Judical Watch lawsuit against Clinton.
- The Justice Department has no role in the lawsuit.
- The immunity granted by the Government does not apply to questions in a civil lawsuit. (That's why Clinton had to answer questions about Monica in Wiley's lawsuit, for instance.)
- Because you are not being charged by the government you can not take the 5th. Refusing to answer can earn you a contempt citation.
So, the good news: these are two investigations running completely in parallel. The FBI may be quite pleased to have Judicial Watch going first, and getting a lot more detail out there. The FBI really likes to catch thier supsects in convoluted tales, and create perjury traps, and then charge them with lying, suborning perjury, and conspiracy. For instance the ridiculous Scooter Libby case.
I wouldn’t be unhappy to see Hillary’s aides charged with contempt. I’ve heard of people rhat were jailed indefinitely on contempt charges.
Thank you for clarifying that. It adds perspective to the Clinton’s predicament.