House Speaker John A. Boehner on Tuesday called on former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to turn her private server over to a third party in the wake of the recent controversy over her exclusive use of private email while serving as the nation’s top diplomat.
“Let me reiterate that the American people deserve all the facts about what happened in Benghazi,” Mr. Boehner told reporters Tuesday. “Now that’s why it’s so important for Secretary Clinton to turn over her personal server to a neutral third party. And I think this is the fairest way to make sure that we have all the documents the belong to the public and, ultimately, all the facts.”
Mr. Boehner said the way forward “is for the secretary to turn over all of her emails that pertain to the public.”
“But some neutral third party is going to have to make some decision about what documents are, quote, personal, and which ones are public record,” he said. “And thus far, she’s been unwilling to do this.”
Mrs. Clinton said last week that she used the private email system out of convenience and that she complied with the rules, which she said allowed her to determine which emails should be deemed personal and which ones should be considered work-related and handed over to the government.
She also said she does not plan to turn over the private server she used, which Rep. Trey Gowdy, South Carolina Republican and chairman of the House Select Committee on Benghazi, has also called for.
Mr. Boehner said there’s been “no change” in terms of how the House is approaching getting the documents, saying that Mr. Gowdy’s committee “is the committee that found this personal email usage and the Benghazi committee is focused on getting the facts about what happened with regard to Benghazi.”
In a separate release, Mr. Boehner’s office asked whether Mrs. Clinton signed a “separation statement” upon exiting the State Department affirming she turned over all classified material and documents relating to government business.
Nearly two years after she left office and in response to a State Department request, Mrs. Clinton turned over 30,490 emails she says were work-related. Mrs. Clinton declined to say whether she had signed the document when asked about it by Fox News at an event on Monday.
The Republican National Committee also said Tuesday it has submitted open records requests seeking copies of the separation statements signed by Mrs. Clinton and top aides and records related to her personal Blackberry.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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