On this Sunday's State of the Union on CNN, Rep. Adam Schiff called out Rep. Darrell Issa for their continued witch hunt on Benghazi and their desperate attempts to find some non-existent "stand down order" while the firefight at our consulate was going on there. Schiff also let Issa have it for using tax payer dollars and his committee in the House as a political arm of the RNC.
Dem Rep. to Issa: You’re Not Going to Find a Benghazi ‘Stand Down’ Order in Hillary’s Emails:
Schiff claimed that the House Select Committee on Benghazi had known about Clinton’s personal email account for some time but had not issued subpoenas because she had voluntarily submitted all requested documents. The Committee did issue a subpoena this week, something Schiff characterized as a response to political pressure after the existence of Clinton’s account became public.
“The secretary has called for those records to be made public,” Schiff said. “Why isn’t [Chair Trey Gowdy] doing that? Why aren’t we doing that? The reason is, we’ve read them. There’s nothing in them.”
“If this secretary or anyone else e-mailed a ‘stand down’ order, as this mythical claim exists out there, there would be several discoveries on the receiving end of that e-mail,” Schiff continued. “There would be people at the Pentagon, there would be people in the field who would have to receive that order.” (This has been the Clinton team’s response, that any relevant email would have been sent to other State Department officials and therefore captured and preserved.)
Of course that didn't stop Issa from accusing Clinton of possibly breaking the law: Issa: Clinton could have committed a crime:
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) on Sunday claimed that Hillary Clinton could have committed a crime if she knowingly withheld emails from congressional investigators.
Appearing on CNN's "State of the Union," Issa noted that "voluntary cooperation does not guarantee that it's not a crime not to deliver all" requested emails.
The former House Oversight Committee chairman issued three subpoenas related to the 2012 Benghazi attacks, and acknowledged the House Select Committee on Benghazi last week subpoenaed all of Clinton's emails during her tenure as secretary of State.
Clinton last week called on the State Department to release the 55,000 pages of her emails that she self-selected and turned over. State has turned over about 900 pages to the committee.
Issa said that if evidence emerges that Clinton did not turn over all emails related to Benghazi it "is so that it will be a crime if she knowingly withheld pursuant to the subpoena."
Issa argued that Clinton "wasn't forthcoming two and a half years ago."
"She, in fact, hid the very existence of this until she was caught," Issa said.
Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), who sits on the House Benghazi committee, pushed back on CNN.
"They issued a subpoena for records we already have," Schiff said. "We've read them. There's nothing in them."
"What is the law at the time? The law at the time was that she could use her personal email as long as she preserved it," Schiff said, arguing "she clearly did preserve her emails."
