Hillary Clinton wiped "clean" her private server that hosted her emails while secretary of state, permanently deleting all correspondence, and did not turn over more of the messages, lawmakers said on Friday.
A simmering scandal over Clinton's admitted use of a private email account for the duration of her four years as President Barack Obama's top diplomat has threatened to mar a spring rollout of her all-but-certain White House campaign.
"We learned today, from her attorney, Secretary Clinton unilaterally decided to wipe her server clean and permanently delete all emails from her personal server," House Benghazi Committee chairman Trey Gowdy said in a statement after Clinton's lawyer wrote to explain why no new emails would be forthcoming from the likely 2016 presidential candidate.
It is unclear exactly when Clinton decided to permanently delete all emails from her server, but Gowdy said it appears to have occurred after October 28, when the State Department first asked her to hand over the records.
In a letter to Gowdy, Clinton lawyer David Kendall wrote that she has already complied with the order to hand over all work-related emails to the State Department.
Reiterating what Clinton herself had conveyed at a press conference earlier this month, Kendall said Clinton and her legal team determined which emails were personal and unrelated to work, nearly 32,000 emails, and deleted them.
Gowdy called Clinton's permanent deletion of her personal records "unprecedented" and said the committee will work with leaders in the House of Representatives on a path forward.
"But it is clear Congress will need to speak with the former secretary about her email arrangement and the decision to permanently delete those emails," he said.
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