Story highlights The judge did, however, grant Judicial Watch permission to submit written questions to Clinton

Separately, the judge denied a request to depose an official in the State Department

(CNN) A federal judge denied Friday a request by a conservative legal watchdog group to depose Hillary Clinton in person over her email server but says she does have to answer written questions.

The judge, Emmet Sullivan, said Clinton will have to answer questions under oath from the group, Judicial Watch, within 30 days.

Separately, Sullivan denied Judicial Watch's request to depose an official in the State Department's Freedom of Information Act office, Clarence Finney, but approved their request to depose a former IT official, John Bentel.

Sullivan heard arguments on the deposition requests at a lengthy motion hearing in July.

At the time, he seemed skeptical that more substantive information could be gleaned from a deposition, given Clinton's numerous public statements on the subject of her email server, as well as her closed testimony to the FBI and open testimony to the House Select Committee on Benghazi.

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