GOP: Clinton must hand over server

Top House Republicans are demanding that Hillary Clinton hand over the personal email server she used while in office, following reports that the State Department has asked federal investigators to look into the arrangement.

“Two inspector generals appointed by President Obama have now called on the Justice Department to investigate Secretary Clinton’s mishandling of classified email. If Secretary Clinton truly has nothing to hide, she can prove it by immediately turning over her server to the proper authorities and allowing them to examine the complete record,” House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said in a statement Friday.

{mosads}“What these reports demonstrate is the inherent risk of conducting our nation’s diplomacy and foreign policy on your home email and personal server,” he added. “Her poor judgment has undermined our national security and it is time for her to finally do the right thing.”

The New York Times reported Thursday that two inspectors general requested a criminal probe of Clinton’s email server following a June 29 memo to Under Secretary of State for Management Patrick F. Kennedy that found it contained “hundreds of potentially classified emails.” 

Rep. Elijah Cummings (Md.), the top Democrat on the House Select Committee on Benghazi, denied the report, saying State made no such request.

But Benghazi Chairman Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) said the development “certainly merits further review by the executive branch to determine the legal and national security implications posed by the former secretary’s unusual email arrangement in order to mitigate any potential counterintelligence risks and minimize the damage caused by this scheme.”

“These issues should be evaluated under the same strict standards that would apply to anyone found to be in possession of classified information outside of an approved system,” he added.

Gowdy said he “appreciates” that the agency watchdogs involved “have confirmed this is a serious and nonpartisan national security matter by any objective measure.” 

However, the “number of questions surrounding Secretary Clinton’s unusual email arrangement continues to grow,” said Gowdy, who again called for the 2016 presidential contender to give the server to authorities for forensic analysis. 

“Regardless of whether the server is voluntarily relinquished or acquired by other lawful means, there is clearly sufficient cause to examine the contents of said server for the presence of other classified information,” he added.

State is reviewing the emails from Clinton’s server for public release. The first batch of more than 1,900 emails was released June 30. Some messages in that group were redacted because they became classified, but none were marked as classified at the time Clinton handled them. 

Gowdy said that “whether it was classified initially or later classified, it is appropriate for the executive branch and intelligence community to determine where these now classified documents are housed and by whom they are possessed.”