Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton will have to answer handwritten questions about her use of a private email server while overseeing the State Department, a federal judge ordered on Friday.
The ruling stems from a lawsuit filed by the conservative advocacy group Judicial Watch, adding to Clinton's struggles as she looks to put to rest the controversy surrounding her email server.
Judicial Watch had requested to have Clinton submit to an in-person sworn deposition, but U.S. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan instead ordered Clinton to respond to handwritten questions. The group has until Oct. 14 to submit the questions and Clinton must respond to them within 30 days.
"We are pleased that this federal court ordered Hillary Clinton to provide written answers under oath to some key questions about her email scandal," Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said in a statement. "We will move quickly to get these answers. The decision is a reminder that Hillary Clinton is not above the law."
Clinton's campaign dismissed the group's efforts as a political ploy.
"Judicial Watch is a right-wing organization that has been attacking the Clintons since the 1990s," Brian Fallon, a spokesman for Clinton, said. "This is just another lawsuit intended to try to hurt Hillary Clinton's campaign."
The group says the emails it has uncovered raise questions about the ties between Clinton and the family-run Clinton Foundation.
In one message, a top Clinton aide appears to be trying to get a million-dollar foundation donor access to the U.S. ambassador to Lebanon, after an executive at the foundation requested it.
Last month, the Department of Justice, at the suggestion of the FBI, announced it would not file any charges against Clinton over her handling of classified material.
Earlier this month, while speaking before a convention of black and Latino journalists, Clinton said she "short circuited" a response in a Fox News interview by appearing to suggest that FBI Director James B. Comey had concluded that her public statements about her use of a private email server while secretary of state were truthful.
In fact, Comey had only said there was no evidence that she had lied to the FBI during its investigation into the matter.
The comments have been assailed by Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, and conservatives on the campaign trail.
