Hillary Clinton: State Department says it cannot find any emails from former secretary of state's IT director

The US Justice Department is investigating Ms Clinton's use of a private email server when she was America's top envoy

Donald Trump isn't expected to hold back in his attacks on Hillary Clinton (AP)

The controversy over Hillary Clinton’s emails has reopened after the State Department admitted it could not find any mails to or from a former aide who managed her private computer server.

In a court filing made in response to a lawsuit by the Republican National Committee, the department said it could find no emails sent by Bryan Pagliano, between 2009 and 2013, the years of Ms Clinton’s tenure.

The RNC had claimed lawyers for the government had said that “the State Department has represented that no responsive records exist” for Mr Pagliano emails.

Bryan Pagliano has been offered immunity (AP)

The Associated Press said that Mr Pagliano was hired at the agency after reportedly setting up Clinton's server in 2009, but the lack of any official State Department emails raised the question as to whether he limited his email traffic using a private account, as she had done.

A State Department official said it possessed emails from Mr Pagliano during the period after Ms Clinton's term had ended, when he continued to work as a technology contractor.

Spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau said the department searched for Mr Pagliano's email file but “has not located one that covers the time period of Secretary Clinton's tenure”. She added that the agency is working with Congress and several public records requesters to provide relevant material, the news agency said.

State Department officials told Senate investigators last year they could not find any work emails of Mr Pagliano from Clinton's tenure, an assertion first reported by Politico.

Raj Shah, spokesman for the RNC, said: “It's hard to believe that an IT staffer who set up Hillary Clinton's reckless email server never sent or received a single work-related email in the four years he worked at the State Department.” Ms Clinton's campaign officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment by AP.

Mr Pagliano has been offered immunity by the Justice Department in its continuing investigation into Ms Clinton’s server and emails and whether the setup violated national security laws. Mr Pagliano's lawyer, Mark MacDougall, has reportedly declined to comment.