House Republicans To DOJ: Charge Clinton With Perjury

Two high-ranking House Republican lawmakers have penned a letter to the Department of Justice (DOJ) requesting that they pursue perjury charges against Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

On Aug. 15, the chairman of House Oversight committee, Republican Rep. Jason Chaffetz of Utah, and the chairman of the House Judiciary committee, Republican Rep. Bob Goodlatte of Virginia, sent a joint letter to U.S. Attorney Channing Phillips of Washington D.C. requesting that charges of perjury be filed against Clinton, The Hill reports.

The two GOP lawmakers pointed to four separate statements Clinton had made while under oath during her testimony before the House Select Committee on Benghazi in October 2015.

Chaffetz and Goodlatte referenced that the July testimony of FBI Director James Comey before the Oversight Committee had contradicted several of Clinton’s statements regarding her use of a private email server, alleging that the former Secretary of State had committed perjury.

“Although there may be other aspects of Secretary Clinton’s sworn testimony that are at odds with the FBI’s findings, her testimony in those four areas bears specific scrutiny in light of the facts and evidence,” the GOP lawmakers wrote.

The DOJ had previously decided not seek charges against Clinton for her email scandal. FBI Director Comey had scolded Clinton for her use of private email but declined to recommend charges against her.

In addition to the letter, GOP lawmakers on the Oversight Committee released a roughly 2-minute video pinpointing the statements made by Clinton that they believe to have been knowingly false.

During her testimony before the Benghazi committee, Clinton had asserted that she had never sent or received materials that were marked classified on her private server.

She had also stated that her lawyers had combed through all of her emails, that she had used only one privat server and that she had turned over all of her work-related emails to the State Department in 2014.

Chaffetz and Goodlatte assert that Comey’s testimony contradicted Clinton’s statements.

“The four pieces of sworn testimony by Secretary Clinton described herein are incompatible with the FBI’s findings,” the GOP lawmakers wrote. “We hope this information is helpful to your office’s consideration of our referral.”

Republicans in Congress have also requested that the FBI provide them with notes their investigators had taken while interviewing Clinton about her use of a private email server, CNN reports.

While the FBI does not transcribe their interviews, they do take notes. Inside sources say that GOP lawmakers on Capitol Hill could receive the agencies’ notes on their three-hour interview with Clinton as soon as Aug. 15.

Republicans in Congress had signaled that they would be pursuing perjury charges against Clinton as soon as Comey had given his testimony in July. Clinton campaign spokesman Brian Fallon had slammed GOP efforts to levy charges against the Democratic nominee as political gamesmanship, CBS News reports.

“This is another futile, partisan attempt to keep this issue alive now that the Justice Dept. has declared it resolved,” Fallon tweeted out.

Sources: CBS News, CNN, The Hill / Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore / Flickr