Judge Orders Clinton's Aides to Be Questioned About Use of Private Email

US State Department officials and top aides to Hillary Clinton should be questioned as part of the investigation into her use of a private email server to send classified data while serving as the secretary of state, local media reported citing the federal judge's decision.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — According to the Washington Post newspaper, US District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan ruled, on Tuesday, that Clinton's aides be questioned after the conservative advocacy group Judicial Watch brought a lawsuit about the use of private email accounts by her administration.

The lobby group has for years sought records related to the State Department's employment of one of Clinton’s top aides, Huma Abedin, who worked simultaneously for the US government and an outside consulting firm.

According to the publication, Clinton and Abedin will not participate in the first round of interrogation, but the opportunity to question them remains open.

In March, Clinton came under fire for using her personal email account and server for official purposes when she served as US secretary of state from 2009 to 2013. US Intelligence Community Inspector General Charles McCullough later discovered that Clinton had shared intelligence documents and information about highly classified government programs via her unsecured private email server.

The judicial decision comes amid Clinton's attempts to win the Democratic presidential nomination.