WASHINGTON — The Select Committee to investigate the Benghazi terror attacks, of which Congresswoman Martha Roby (R-AL2) is a member, sent a letter to Hillary Clinton’s lawyer, David Kendall, Friday requesting the likely Democratic Presidential hopeful turn over her entire email server to a neutral, independent third party for inspection and review by April 3rd following the revelation that Clinton may have used more than one email address.
“The Committee must have objective assurances it, and by extension the House of Representatives as a whole, has received all relevant information requested and necessary for a thorough investigation of what happened before, during, and after the attacks in Benghazi, Libya,” Select Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy (R-SC) wrote.
“Though Secretary Clinton alone is responsible for causing this issue, she alone does not get to determine its outcome,” said Gowdy. “That is why in the interest of transparency for the American people, I am formally requesting she turn the server over to the State Department’s inspector general or a mutually agreeable third party.”
When the State Department turned over 15,000 pages of documents to the Committee in August 2014, only eight emails were to or from then-Secretary of State Clinton. Some of these eight emails were addressed to or from “[email protected]” while some were simply addressed to or from “H.”
“The ‘H’ address raised the possibility that Secretary Clinton used more than one address, including the possibility that the “H” address was associated with a ‘.gov’ address,” Rep. Gowdy wrote.
If in fact the “H” email was a “.gov” account, the fact that these emails were not remitted to the public at the completion of her tenure as Secretary of State could put Clinton in mounds of legal trouble.
The letter then goes through the timeline of the Committee’s interaction with Clinton’s lawyer, including their attempts to review all of her emails regarding Libya.
On February 13th, 2015, two weeks after the State Department testified before this Committee at a public compliance hearing, the Department finally produced 847 pages of Secretary Clinton’s emails that were responsive to both the Committee’s November 18th and December 2nd requests. The dates of these emails ranged from March 3rd, 2011 to December 24th, 2012. However, no emails were provided with respect to certain key time periods related to events in Libya and Benghazi.
On February 27th, 2015, Committee staff met with staff from the State Department to better understand the logistics surrounding the February 13th production. Despite months of discussion between the Committee, the State Department, and yourself, it was during this meeting, for the first time, that anyone told the Committee Secretary Clinton exclusively used a private email address during her entire tenure as Secretary. Nor was it disclosed that she continued to retain exclusive control over her emails after her departure from the State Department.
“Secretary Clinton’s email arrangement with herself is highly unusual, if not unprecedented,” the letter says. “Her arrangement apparently also allowed her to delete those emails she determined to be personal in nature. The deletion of emails is not normal practice once any investigation, let alone litigation, commences. The fact that she apparently deleted some emails after Congress initially requested documents raises serious concerns.”
“These are substantial issues with respect to the Select Committee on Benghazi alone. However, it is also important to note—as has been recognized by a wide variety of respected experts across the political spectrum—that the equities in the Secretary’s emails are broader than the Select Committee on Benghazi. The public has a right to access public records… The public has a right to a full, comprehensive and thorough accounting of Secretary Clinton’s tenure.”
While the letter does not constitute a legal subpoena, Chairman Gowdy emphasizes at the end of the letter that if Secretary Clinton refuses to comply by April 3rd, he will ask House Speaker Boehner to “use the full powers of the House to take the necessary steps to protect the best interests of the American people.”
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— Elizabeth BeShears (@LizEBeesh) January 21, 2015
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