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Rep Gowdy: Hillary Clinton wiped clean email server

By Danielle Haynes
Hillary Rodham Clinton permanently deleted all emails off her private server, her lawyer told the House Select Committee on Benghazi. File photo by A.J. Sisco/UPI
Hillary Rodham Clinton permanently deleted all emails off her private server, her lawyer told the House Select Committee on Benghazi. File photo by A.J. Sisco/UPI | License Photo

WASHINGTON, March 27 (UPI) -- U.S. Rep. Trey Gowdy said the House Select Committee on Benghazi received information from Hillary Clinton's lawyer indicating she permanently deleted all emails from her personal server.

Gowdy last week called on Clinton to turn over the private server after it became public she used it for sending and receiving official emails while she was secretary of state.

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A news release from the committee said Clinton never turned over that server, though her aides turned over 55,000 emails. She asked the State Department to make those emails available to the public.

"We learned today, from her attorney, Secretary Clinton unilaterally decided to wipe her server clean and permanently delete all emails from her personal server," Gowdy's statement said Friday. "While it is not clear precisely when Secretary Clinton decided to permanently delete all emails from her server, it appears she made the decision after October 28, 2014, when the Department of State for the first time asked the Secretary to return her public record to the department.

"Not only was the secretary the sole arbiter of what was a public record, she also summarily decided to delete all emails from her server ensuring no one could check behind her analysis in the public interest."

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Gowdy said Congress will need to address the email deletion with Clinton.

Clinton said she deleted emails from the server after her lawyers reviewed it for any work-related communication.

"There is no basis to support the proposed third-party review of the server that hosted the [email protected] account," Clinton's lawyer, David Kendall wrote in a letter to the committee.

"To avoid prolonging a discussion that would be academic, I have confirmed with the secretary's IT support that no emails.....for the time period January 21, 2009, through February 1, 2013, reside on the server or on any back-up systems associated with the server."

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