Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., the chairman of the House committee investigating the Benghazi terrorist attacks, said Wednesday that his panel doesn't have the authority to subpoena Hillary Clinton's private email system, but he suggested that if necessary, he would take the issue to the full House to get permission to probe Clinton's server.
"For my committee, which has a more limited jurisdiction, we, No. 1, lack the authority under House rules to subpoena the server," Gowdy told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt in an interview, reported Politico. "The House as an entity, it's an open legal question, but most experts believe that the House could subpoena that server."
Gowdy said that he gave Clinton's lawyer, David Kendall, until May 1 to "come talk to Congress in a private setting."
Being that Clinton has only been questioned once, at a U.N. press conference, about her unilateral decision to wipe her private email server clean, potentially destroying evidence and government property, Gowdy, who has been tasked with probing Clinton's private email use, said, "We have a number of questions."
He insisted that he hopes the issue is resolved before Clinton is issued a subpoena, "but we most assuredly need to talk to her about Benghazi."
"And again, I want to be fair to her. She's never indicated that she would not come. But I also am going to be very firm that it is a condition precedent to my being able to talk to her about Benghazi, for me to understand that I have all the documents I'm entitled to," Gowdy said.
When Hewitt pressed Gowdy to clarify if Clinton would be subpoenaed, Gowdy responded, "we're going to have to talk to her. And I hope it does not come to the point of formal legal process, and I've got no indication from her that it would. But we are going to need to talk to her."
Gowdy is seeking two interviews from Clinton: a private interview regarding her use of an insecure personal email address for official State Department business during her tenure as secretary of state, and a public hearing about the 2012 Benghazi terror attacks. Clinton has only agreed to appear before a single public hearing.
