Feb 23 (Reuters) - A federal judge ruled on Tuesday that U.S. State Department officials and aides to Hillary Clinton should be questioned under oath about whether the former secretary of state's private email system was an effort to skirt records laws, The Washington Post reported.

U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan ordered that the State Department and Judicial Watch, the conservative watchdog group suing the department for records about the employment of a senior Clinton aide, come up with a plan for the depositions and other discovery by April, the paper reported.

Clinton is vying to become the Democratic Party's presidential candidate ahead of the election this November. (Reporting by Jonathan Allen)

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.