Benghazi panel subpoenas Clinton emails

The House committee investigating the terrorist attacks in Benghazi, Libya, on Wednesday subpoenaed former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for emails from her private accounts.

The Select Committee on Benghazi “issued subpoenas for all communications of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton related to Libya and to the State Department for other individuals who have information pertinent to the investigation,” panel spokesman Jamal Ware said in a statement.

The panel also “issued preservation letters to Internet firms informing them of their legal obligation to protect all relevant documents,” Ware added, without providing the names of the firms.

{mosads}The announcement came hours after Ware said the panel is in possession of “two separate and distinct email addresses” Clinton used while serving as the nation’s No. 1 diplomat.

The Benghazi panel is ramping up its investigation after The New York Times this week revealed that Clinton relied solely on a personal email account while serving as secretary of State. Her aides only recently handed over some of those emails to the State Department to comply with public records laws.

New reports Wednesday indicated that Clinton relied on a personal email server set up at her home in Chappaqua, N.Y.

Rep. Elijah Cummings (Md.), the panel’s ranking member, said the committee’s five Democrats “had absolutely no notice whatsoever” about the subpoenas despite an earlier commitment from chairman Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) that he would give them at least seven days notice.

He also accused Republicans of prolonging the investigation to hurt Clinton’s expected bid for the White House in 2016.

“I did not want to believe it, but everything I’ve seen so far has led me to believe that this is an effort to go after Hillary Clinton. Period,” he told reporters.

Cummings said that the select committee’s investigation had become a “fishing expedition to try to get all kinds of documents related to Hillary Clinton.”

All 12 panel members were due to get a “status report” from State Department officials on Wednesday, according to Cummings, who said Clinton attorney David Kendall had turned over all documents and records relevant to the Benghazi attack to the agency.

However, Republicans canceled the meeting due to the looming winter storm, he said. It is unclear when it will be rescheduled.

The news of the subpoenas was first reported by The Washington Post.

— Updated at 6:04 p.m.