House panel issues subpoenas for Clinton e-mails

Show Caption Hide Caption Could Hillary ruin her own chances for the presidential nomination? USA TODAY’s Washington Bureau Chief Susan Page talks about Hillary Clinton’s vulnerabilities as a candidate and her instincts as a politician.

WASHINGTON — A House investigative committee said it has records containing two different e-mail addresses used by former secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. It issued subpoenas Wednesday to find out more about Clinton's use of her private e-mail system to conduct public business.

The State Department denied Clinton used more than one e-mail address, which Clinton herself controlled on her own server at clintonemail.com.

"That is false. There was just one e-mail account," State spokeswoman Marie Harf said. She said Clinton's use of a private e-mail was not prohibited during her four-year tenure.

Clinton said she had requested that the State Department release all her e-mails in a tweet late Wednesday. The State Department will review the e-mails for release as soon as possible, she said.

"I want the public to see my email," she tweeted.

Clinton's use of a private e-mail system, reported this week by The New York Times, is bound to raise questions about her time as the nation's chief diplomat, even as she considers whether to run for president in 2016.

The House Select Committee on Benghazi issued subpoenas Wednesday to the State Department and "other individuals who have information pertinent to the investigation," committee spokesman Jamal Ware said. He said the committee issued letters to Internet companies instructing them to preserve records relevant to the investigation.

"I have to have all the documents. If that means sending legal recourse to the secretary herself, that's exactly what we're going to do," Chairman Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., told CNN.

The committee is investigating the attack in 2012 on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya. Although previous administration and congressional investigations largely absolved the administration of wrongdoing, the discovery of e-mails unknown to investigators could revive the inquiry.

Neither the White House nor the State Department would discuss an Associated Press report Wednesday that Clinton set up and installed a private e-mail server in her New York home.

Spokesmen for Clinton had no comment Wednesday.

"The expectation by the president is that everybody within his administration is operating in compliance with the Federal Records Act," White House spokesman Josh Earnest said. He said Clinton could come into compliance by forwarding her official e-mails to the State Department. She's submitted 55,000 pages of e-mails.

Critics say the arrangement makes it impossible to know whether Clinton has turned over all government e-mails. The use of her private e-mail system would make it impossible for State Department officials to respond to requests for her e-mails from congressional committees and the public under the Freedom of Information Act.

"By our count, there are at least 18 lawsuits that are directly impacted by this, and who knows how many FOIA requests," said Tom Fitton of Judicial Watch, a conservative group that uses Freedom of Information Act requests to monitor government agencies. "It looks to me like we've been lied to, misled and had our court cases obstructed in many, many cases, even though they've known from the day she entered office that she had this account."

Judicial Watch filed a lawsuit Wednesday, seeking e-mails from Clinton and her deputy chief of staff to the wife of ousted Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi, saying the State Department failed to respond to its FOIA request.

The Associated Press is considering a lawsuit to force the release of Clinton e-mails it requested.

"We have not received any documents yet, despite the promised deadlines, and we are considering taking legal action," AP spokeswoman Erin Madigan said.