(CNN) A former State Department employee who worked on Hillary Clinton's private email server has informed Congress that he will invoke the Fifth Amendment to avoid testifying before the House Select Committee on Benghazi and in response to other Congressional inquiries related to the server.

On Monday, Mark MacDougall, the attorney for former State Department employee Bryan Pagliano, sent a letter to House Select Committee on Benghazi Chairman Trey Gowdy indicating that Pagliano would assert his Fifth Amendment right not to appear before the Select Committee for a deposition on September 10, 2015. A copy of the letter was obtained by CNN.

MacDougall also says that Pagliano would likewise "decline to produce documents that may be responsive to the subpoena." In the letter, MacDougall defends the decision to invoke the Fifth Amendment by expressing concern about "the current political environment" surrounding Clinton's email use.

Pagliano is a former IT staffer who worked for Clinton and assisted with her email and server. On August 11, Gowdy issued a subpoena for his deposition. A Democratic committee source says there was "no debate or vote by the select committee" about the decision to issue Pagliano subpoena.

Responding to additional requests regarding Clinton's private server from Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley's staff, Pagliano's legal counsel also said yesterday that "he would plead the 5th to any and all questions if he were compelled to testify" before the Judiciary Committee, according to a spokesman for the senator.

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