As Hillary Clinton Stays Quiet About Private Emails, Republicans Seize Moment to Criticize Her
One of the best-known photographs of Hillary Rodham Clinton taken in the past several years is that of her in 2011 jetting from Malta to Tripoli aboard an Air Force C-17, wearing dark sunglasses and typing on a BlackBerry.
But according to Representative Trey Gowdy, the South Carolina Republican leading a House investigation into her handling of the attack on the American diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, on Sept. 11, 2012, his committee has not seen any of the emails she sent that day, or from the trip during which the picture was taken.
“There are gaps of months and months and months,” Mr. Gowdy said Sunday on the CBS program “Face the Nation.” “It strains credibility to believe if you’re on your way to Libya to discuss Libyan policy that there is not a single document to turn over to Congress.”
The furor over Mrs. Clinton’s use of a private email account and server during her time as secretary of state showed no signs of abating on Sunday, nearly a week after The New York Times’s initial report.
Mr. Gowdy said that he was interested only in communications relating to Benghazi, but that Mrs. Clinton’s evasiveness on the matter was wrong.
“It’s not up to Secretary Clinton to decide what’s public record and what’s not,” he said.
Other leading Republicans sought to further press the issue of Mrs. Clinton’s emails. Also on CBS, Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader, said he did not know if Mrs. Clinton’s email violated the law, but said he was concerned about the security of her private account.
“They would have been prime targets for cyberattacks,” Mr. McConnell said.
Democrats remained on the defensive over the situation, given Mrs. Clinton’s status as their presumed presidential nominee despite not having formally announced her intentions to run.
Senator Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California, said Mrs. Clinton must “step up” and explain why she had used a private email address during her time as secretary of state, increasing the pressure on Mrs. Clinton to publicly address the matter.
“I think that she needs to step up and come out and state exactly what the situation is,” Ms. Feinstein said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press, adding, “From this point on, the silence is going to hurt her.”
Ms. Feinstein’s comments were notably more pointed than earlier in the week when, in an interview in the Capitol, she said she did not think there was “any ill intent” on Mrs. Clinton’s part and counseled patience.
Many senior Democrats appear anxious and said they hoped Mrs. Clinton would offer some clarity about why she had used her own email account to conduct government business.
Senator Charles Schumer, Democrat of New York, attempted to tone down the rhetoric, calling it a political attack that would soon blow over.
“I think at the end of the day this will just be regarded as a slight hiccup, a small bump in the road six months from now,” Mr. Schumer told CBS. “The bottom line is she’s a national figure, a potential presidential candidate. People are going to shoot at her.”
Mrs. Clinton has so far only said in a post on Twitter that she wants the public to see her emails. Over the weekend, the controversy spilled over into the world of comedy when “Saturday Night Live” featured the dust-up.
Impersonating Mrs. Clinton sitting on a couch, the comedian Kate McKinnon said the contents of her email were no big deal.
“Those emails are clean as a whistle,” she said. “This is not how Hillary Clinton goes down.”
Jonathan Martin contributed reporting.
A version of this article appears in print on March 9, 2015, on page A11 of the New York edition with the headline: Republicans Seize Moment to Criticize Clinton’s Email Use. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe
Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on her phone during a flight from Malta to Tripoli in 2011.Kevin Lamarque/Reuters By ALAN RAPPEPORT
As Hillary Clinton Stays Quiet About Private Emails, Republicans Seize Moment to Criticize Her
But according to Representative Trey Gowdy, the South Carolina Republican leading a House investigation into her handling of the attack on the American diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, on Sept. 11, 2012, his committee has not seen any of the emails she sent that day, or from the trip during which the picture was taken.
“There are gaps of months and months and months,” Mr. Gowdy said Sunday on the CBS program “Face the Nation.” “It strains credibility to believe if you’re on your way to Libya to discuss Libyan policy that there is not a single document to turn over to Congress.”
The furor over Mrs. Clinton’s use of a private email account and server during her time as secretary of state showed no signs of abating on Sunday, nearly a week after The New York Times’s initial report.
Mr. Gowdy said that he was interested only in communications relating to Benghazi, but that Mrs. Clinton’s evasiveness on the matter was wrong.
“It’s not up to Secretary Clinton to decide what’s public record and what’s not,” he said.
Other leading Republicans sought to further press the issue of Mrs. Clinton’s emails. Also on CBS, Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader, said he did not know if Mrs. Clinton’s email violated the law, but said he was concerned about the security of her private account.
“They would have been prime targets for cyberattacks,” Mr. McConnell said.
Democrats remained on the defensive over the situation, given Mrs. Clinton’s status as their presumed presidential nominee despite not having formally announced her intentions to run.
Senator Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California, said Mrs. Clinton must “step up” and explain why she had used a private email address during her time as secretary of state, increasing the pressure on Mrs. Clinton to publicly address the matter.
“I think that she needs to step up and come out and state exactly what the situation is,” Ms. Feinstein said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press, adding, “From this point on, the silence is going to hurt her.”
Ms. Feinstein’s comments were notably more pointed than earlier in the week when, in an interview in the Capitol, she said she did not think there was “any ill intent” on Mrs. Clinton’s part and counseled patience.
Many senior Democrats appear anxious and said they hoped Mrs. Clinton would offer some clarity about why she had used her own email account to conduct government business.
Senator Charles Schumer, Democrat of New York, attempted to tone down the rhetoric, calling it a political attack that would soon blow over.
“I think at the end of the day this will just be regarded as a slight hiccup, a small bump in the road six months from now,” Mr. Schumer told CBS. “The bottom line is she’s a national figure, a potential presidential candidate. People are going to shoot at her.”
Mrs. Clinton has so far only said in a post on Twitter that she wants the public to see her emails. Over the weekend, the controversy spilled over into the world of comedy when “Saturday Night Live” featured the dust-up.
Impersonating Mrs. Clinton sitting on a couch, the comedian Kate McKinnon said the contents of her email were no big deal.
“Those emails are clean as a whistle,” she said. “This is not how Hillary Clinton goes down.”
Jonathan Martin contributed reporting.
A version of this article appears in print on March 9, 2015, on page A11 of the New York edition with the headline: Republicans Seize Moment to Criticize Clinton’s Email Use. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe
As Hillary Clinton Stays Quiet About Private Emails, Republicans Seize Moment to Criticize Her
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