Hillary Clinton E-mails Subpoenaed By House Committee Investigating Benghazi

A House investigation committee has issued a subpoena to the State Department requesting access to look deeper into the use of a personal email account by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. After confirming Clinton’s heavy use of a personal email on a home server, the committee called for legal action late Wednesday.

The hope is for the House Select Committee on Benghazi to uncover exactly what went on during the 2012 terrorist attack on a U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, that left four Americans dead. The committee discovered that Clinton had been using her email account to conduct official business on the attacks, which The Associated Press reports (via ABC News) ran from a server traced back to her Chappaqua, New York, home. This allegedly gave her significant control over who could and could not access her email archives.

"The Select Committee on Benghazi today issued subpoenas for all communications of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton related to Libya and to the State Department for other individuals who have information pertinent to the investigation," the panel said in a statement by committee spokesman Jamal Ware (via the Washington Post). "The Committee also has issued preservation letters to internet firms informing them of their legal obligation to protect all relevant documents."

The move by the committee puts both the Obama administration and Clinton in a very awkward situation. The subpoena is especially troubling for Clinton, who many believe plans to run for president in 2016.

"It doesn't matter if the server was in Foggy Bottom, Chappaqua, or Bora-Bora," House Speaker John Boehner said. "The Benghazi Select Committee needs to see all of these emails, because the American people deserve all of the facts."