Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) on Sunday suggested that Hillary Clinton could face criminal charges if she knowingly withholds emails from congressional investigators.
Appearing on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Issa noted that “voluntary cooperation does not guarantee that it’s a crime not to deliver all” requested emails.
“A subpoena, which Trey Gowdy issued, is so that in fact it will be a crime if she knowingly withholds documents pursuant to subpoena,” Issa said.
The former House Oversight Committee chairman issued three subpoenas related to the 2012 Benghazi attacks, he said, acknowledging the House Select Committee on Benghazi last week subpoenaed all of Clinton’s emails during her tenure as secretary of State.
Clinton last week called on the State Department to release the 55,000 pages of her emails that she self-selected and turned over. State has turned over about 900 pages to the committee.
Issa argued that Clinton “wasn’t forthcoming two and a half years ago.”
“She, in fact, hid the very existence of this until she was caught,” Issa said.
Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), who sits on the House Benghazi committee, pushed back on CNN.
“They issued a subpoena for records we already have,” Schiff said. “We’ve read them. There’s nothing in them.”
“What is the law at the time? The law at the time was that she could use her personal email as long as she preserved it,” Schiff said, arguing “she clearly did preserve her emails.”
“In my view, this was not provided in response to The New York Times article or anything else. This was provided last year when a request went out to the state department and all former secretaries,” Schiff said.
“She followed the law in place at the time, and I think that’s, I think, the relevant point.”
— This report was updated at 2:13 p.m.