Did Hillary Clinton commit perjury at a congressional hearing about the Benghazi attack? That's what two House Republican committee chairmen are asking the Justice Department to investigate. On Monday, House Oversight chairman Jason Chaffetz of Utah and House Judiciary chairman Bob Goodlatte of Virginia wrote a letter to the U.S. attorney in the District of Columbia. The letter noted multiple examples of the former secretary of state making statements at her October 2015 appearance before the House Select Committee on the Benghazi attack that contradict evidence presented by the FBI following its investigation into Clinton's private email server.
"The evidence collected by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) during its investigation of Secretary Clinton's use of a personal email system during her time as Secretary of State appears to directly contradict several aspects of her sworn testimony," reads the letter in part. Chaffetz and his committee have also released a video version demonstrating those apparent contradictions between Clinton's testimony and FBI director James Comey's own statements. Watch it below:
The video does not contain the full scope of contradictory statements Clinton made in her testimony last year. For instance, Clinton claimed that longtime associate Sidney Blumenthal—whose appointment to a State Department job was blocked by Barack Obama—was neither an "official or unofficial" advisor to her on Libya. This was an relevant point because Blumenthal was consulting for business interests in Libya during Clinton's tenure as secretary of state—in addition to being an employee of the Clinton Foundation. But emails released from Clinton's private server indicated that Blumenthal had sent Clinton information (including private intelligence reports) about Libya during that time, of which she acknowledged receipt.
Clinton's husband Bill Clinton was also accused of perjury when he served as president. The House of Representatives charged him with perjury and obstruction of justice in 1998 after Clinton's testimony in the sexual harassment lawsuit of Paula Jones, a former Arkansas state employee. Clinton was impeached by the House on one charge of perjury and obstruction of justice, but was acquitted by the Senate.