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A lawyer for Bryan Pagliano, a former technology adviser to Hillary Clinton, is trying to keep an immunity deal secret. | Getty Clinton tech aide asks court to keep immunity deal secret

A former technology adviser to Hillary Clinton is seeking to keep under wraps an immunity deal the aide reached with the Justice Department in its investigation into Clinton's use of a private email server as secretary of state.

A lawyer for Bryan Pagliano submitted a sealed motion and exhibits to U.S. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan Tuesday afternoon, less than two hours before the 5 p.m. deadline Sullivan set for the filing of Pagliano's immunity agreement.

A legal memorandum filed publicly Tuesday confirms for the first time that Pagliano reached such an immunity agreement, and lays out arguments for why he should still be able to assert his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination in a Freedom of Information Act suit a conservative group, Judicial Watch, is pursuing over Clinton's email set-up.

The document also states that Pagliano has filed a motion to keep his immunity agreement under seal.

The battle over whether to make Pagliano's immunity agreement public is an unhelpful development for Clinton's presidential campaign. The discussion over the details of the deal carries implications that someone involved may have committed a crime, although no one has been charged.

Pagliano's attorney, Mark MacDougall, declined to comment on the submission.

Pagliano was scheduled to be deposed on Monday in the Judicial Watch lawsuit. However, Sullivan postponed the deposition after Pagliano's lawyers indicated the former tech aide planned to assert his Fifth Amendment right. In the judge's order delaying the testimony, he ordered Pagliano to file a legal explanation justifying his planned assertion as well as a copy of an immunity agreement under which the former Clinton aide reportedly gave testimony to the FBI about his role in the private server arrangement.

Now, Sullivan will have to decide whether the immunity agreement should be made public or kept under seal. Most court records are available to the public, but judges sometimes put them off limits for privacy reasons or to protect ongoing investigations.

In a new order Tuesday afternoon, Sullivan gave Judicial Watch and government lawyers until Friday at noon to indicate whether they oppose Pagliano’s effort to file his immunity agreement under seal.

