A special House investigatory panel has formally asked Hillary Clinton to turn over the personal email server she used while serving as secretary of state.
In a letter sent Friday to Clinton’s personal attorney, Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., who chairs the House panel investigating the 2012 terrorist attacks on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, asks that the server be turned over to the State Department inspector general, “or a neutral third party for an independent analysis of what records should be in the public domain.”
In the letter, Gowdy tells Clinton attorney David E. Kendall that Clinton has until March 27 to turn over the server. If she does not comply, GOP aides said, the House would consider additional steps to take.
Gowdy’s panel does not have the power to subpoena Clinton’s server. Under the rules governing the committee, it has the authority to subpoena people and communications, but not tangible items, such as the server.
The House, however, could vote to subpoena Clinton if she does not turn over the server, Gowdy said last week.
Clinton acknowledged in a press conference last week that she deleted more than 30,000 emails that she deemed personal and not related to department business.
But House Republicans want to review the emails in their quest to find out what happened before, during and after the attacks and what role the State Department played.
Some watchdog groups and the Associate Press are also seeking the emails.
“Though Secretary Clinton alone is responsible for causing this issue, she alone does not get to determine its outcome,” Gowdy said.
