GOP sues State Department over access to Clinton emails

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, center, flanked by the committee's ranking member Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., right, and Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, questions Attorney General Loretta Lynch, foreground, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, March 9, 2016, during the committee's hearing on oversight of the Justice Department. Associated Press

WASHINGTON -- The Republican Party is suing over access to electronic messages sent or received by Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and her top aides during her tenure as secretary of state.

The Republican National Committee filed a pair of lawsuits Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Washington.

Both spring from Freedom of Information Act requests filed last year with the State Department, seeking copies of emails and text messages. In court filings, the GOP says it has not received any documents in response to its requests.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

Attorney General Loretta Lynch says she won't discuss an offer of immunity given to the former State Department staffer who set up a private email server for Hillary Clinton.

Lynch appeared Wednesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee, where she was questioned by Sen. John Cornyn about an FBI investigation into the potential mishandling of sensitive information on the email server.

She told the Texas Republican that she was unable to confirm reports that the Justice Department had offered immunity to the former staffer, Bryan Pagliano (PAG-lee-ahn-oh).

She said she can't discuss specifics of any ongoing investigation, but there are different levels of immunity from prosecution.

Committee chairman Chuck Grassley of Iowa is asking Pagliano to appear before the committee now that he's received immunity.