Robert Walker Weighs In On Immunity Debate for Former Clinton Staffer in Server Probe

September 11, 2015

Robert L. Walker, of counsel in Wiley Rein’s Election Law & Government Ethics Practice, was quoted in an article published September 9 in Politico about differing views among congressional Republicans on whether to offer immunity to a former staffer of Hillary Clinton in exchange for information related to her use of a private email server during her tenure as U.S. Secretary of State.

According to the article, Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Ron Johnson (R-WI) are considering an offer of immunity to Ms. Clinton’s top tech aide after he said that he planned to invoke his Fifth Amendment rights to avoid self-incrimination. But Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC) said any offer of immunity should come from the FBI—which is currently conducting an investigation—not Congress.

“If the committee is interested in finding out what happened and why… based on what I know, it would make sense to me for the committee to seek an order granting immunity,” said Mr. Walker, former chief counsel and staff director of the Senate and House ethics committees. “[The staffer] wasn’t a decision maker as far as I can tell. And assuming that’s the case… the potential effect on the DOJ investigation would be minimal.”

To read the entire article, click here.