House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said for the first time Thursday that Democratic presidential favorite Hillary Clinton "violated the law" by using a personal email address and server to conduct official State Department business, adding that if she doesn't voluntarily turn the email server over for inspection, the House could vote to subpoena it.
"I've not made any decisions yet, but all options are on the table," Boehner told Bloomberg. "If we need to [subpoena it], we may have to."
"She violated the law, and the idea that she was going to use her own server and do official business on it goes against every transparency issue that the president likes to tout," Boehner said. "At some point, they just can't ignore the fact that there are a lot of public documents on this server that the American people have a right to see. And we believe that it's time for Mrs. Clinton to turn that server and all those documents over to the IG, the Inspector General, at the State Department."
Bloomberg noted that when pressed, Boehner was not able to cite a specific law that Clinton violated.
Nonetheless, Boehner insisted that it's "important for the American people to know the truth about what happened in Benghazi, and it's important to know what was going on at the State Department before, during and after the events that occurred in Libya."
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney suggested Thursday that examining Clinton's private email server could also shed some light on recent reports of shady monetary exchanges between Clinton's charity organization and foreign governments and individuals - reports Romney said "sound like bribery." The Clintons allegedly accepted millions of dollars in donations and speaking fees in exchange for favors by Hillary's State Department.
While the Clintons are both "good public servants," Boehner said, "there are a lot of questions that are being raised, and at some point, they are going to have to answer the questions."
Also on Thursday, the House committee investigating the 2012 Benghazi embassy attacks called again on Clinton to testify on the attacks and her use of a private email server.
Benghazi Committee Chairman Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., sent a letter to Clinton's lawyer including 100 questions regarding her email server and said the committee plans to schedule a hearing by the week of May 18.
"If that hearing results in assurances the public record is indeed complete, the Committee will schedule Secretary Clinton's public hearing with respect to the 2012 terrorist attacks in Benghazi no later than June 18, 2015, with specific date being selected after consultation with you," Gowdy wrote.
