Politics | Mon Jul 11, 2016 8:07pm EDT

House chairmen seek new federal probe of Clinton testimony

The Republican chairmen of two U.S. House of Representatives committees asked the Justice Department on Monday to launch an investigation into whether Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton committed perjury during testimony to Congress about her use of a private email server.

"The evidence collected by the FBI during its investigation of Secretary Clinton’s use of a personal email system appears to directly contradict several aspects of her sworn testimony" to Congress, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte said in a letter to U.S. Attorney Channing Phillips requesting the probe.

After a year-long investigation of Clinton's emails, the FBI recommended that no criminal charges be brought against the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee for the Nov. 8 election. That recommendation was accepted by Attorney General Loretta Lynch.

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Chaffetz has also asked the Federal Bureau of Investigation to give him access to its investigative files on Clinton.

(Reporting by Richard Cowan; Editing by James Dalgleish and Peter Cooney)

Congressmen ask U.S. Attorney’s Office to investigate Clinton for perjury

By Matt Zapotosky July 11 at 6:56 PM

Two Republican congressmen on Monday formally requested that the U.S. Attorney for the District investigate whether Hillary Clinton committed perjury when she testified before a congressional committee about her use of a private email server while she was secretary of state.

The letter from U.S. Reps. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) and Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) asserts that evidence collected by the FBI during its investigation involving Clinton’s email practices “appears to directly contradict several aspects of her sworn testimony” and asks federal authorities to “investigate and determine whether to prosecute Secretary Clinton for violating statutes that prohibit perjury and false statements to Congress, or any other relevant statutes.” It is addressed to U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips and copied to FBI Director James B. Comey and U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch.

A Justice Department spokeswoman and a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the District declined to comment. U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch is scheduled to appear Tuesday before the House Judiciary Committee, of which Goodlatte is the chairman.

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