A Democrat leader investigating Benghazi is applauding Hillary Clinton for tweeting that she will release her e-mails.
Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), who serves as the ranking member on the House Select Committee on Benghazi, “commend[ed]” Clinton in a statement Thursday, according to The Hill.
“As far as I am aware, no other Cabinet secretary in history has ever called for the release of his or her e-mails — in their entirety and throughout his or her tenure,” explained Cummings. “I commend Secretary Clinton’s decision.”
Of course, he was particularly cheering Clinton’s decision to announce — quite informally via Twitter — that she called on the State Department to release her e-mails after reports surfaced that she exclusively used a private e-mail account during her four years as secretary of State.
I want the public to see my email. I asked State to release them. They said they will review them for release as soon as possible.
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) March 5, 2015
The same day that Clinton publicly commented on the e-mail fiasco by sending out her tweet, the Select Committee on Benghazi issued subpoenas to the State Department for Clinton’s e-mails.
Cummings stressed Thursday that the State Department had already supplied the Select Committee with 800 pages of the former secretary of State’s e-mails upon a document request from the committee last month. These pages came from the 55,000 pages of e-mails given to the government agency by Clinton aides.
The problem, though, with the 55,000 pages of e-mails is that Clinton and her aides had complete discretion over which to supply to the State Department. Thus, those 55,000 could comprise Clinton’s entire e-mail box or only one-fourth of it; we might never know.
Clinton handed over the e-mails to State in response to a letter the department sent last October to all former secretaries “requesting copies of e-mails from their personal accounts regarding official work,” according to Cummings.
“All of these steps were taken before Monday’s New York Times story,” the Maryland congressman insisted, referring to the Times’ initial report about Clinton’s private account. “In contrast, it appears that no other former Secretary produced a single document — yet Republicans have been silent on this fact.”
He labeled Hillary’s decision to eventually release the e-mails to the public “the right one.”
Cummings’ comments stand in stark contrast to those made by Select Committee Chair Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.), who has essentially disregarded Clinton’s promise and stood firm on the subpoenas he issued to obtain Clinton’s electronic correspondences.
This might just mean another spat for Cummings and Gowdy over Clinton. Earlier this year, Gowdy accused Cummings of flip flopping after agreeing in 2014 that Clinton should testify to the committee on Benghazi. Cummings, of course, denied the accusation.
