Republicans in Congress are saying they will continue their investigations of Hillary Clinton even if she wins the presidency, according to Politico.
Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, said he is willing to use subpoenas in order to get answers about Clinton's deletion of emails, which might constitute "destruction of evidence."
Chaffetz asked officials from the State Department, FBI, Justice Department, and Office of the Director of National Intelligence to come in for a private briefing, but all refused, reports Politico.
"If they won't come in voluntarily, I told them we'll have this out in a public hearing. And I told them I'll issue them all subpoenas," Chaffetz said.
House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes, a California Republican, is at work on a bill to pull security clearance from anyone who broke rules that govern confidential information.
Politico reports some Republicans in Congress are looking for connections between the Clinton Foundation and the State Department. Several months ago, the Justice Department pushed back against a probe by FBI officials who wanted to probe for conflicts of interest, according to CNN.
Now that the FBI's investigation has concluded, Chaffetz is ramping up efforts and asked the Justice Department to determine if Platte River Networks, the IT company that housed Clinton's server after she left her secretary of state job, destroyed evidence and obstructed justice.
Chaffetz noted that an unnamed Platte River IT employee deleted a Clinton email archive after talking to Clinton's lawyers. According to The New York Times, the FBI gave that person immunity and a different employee refused to speak to the FBI, citing attorney-client privilege.
Regarding Clinton's handling of classified information in emails, Politico reports that Republicans plan to continue looking.
"Hillary Clinton created this problem; I'm trying to untie this big tangled web. I'd be derelict in my chairmanship if I didn't pursue this with all the vigor I have," Chaffetz said.
A source close to House Speaker Paul Ryan said that he considers Congress' role in oversight as high priority and a "rigorous oversight of the executive branch is important no matter who is in the White House."
Wisconsin Rep. Ron Johnson, chairman of the Senate Homeland Security, and Iowa Rep. Chuck Grassley, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, are both waiting on more information.
Johnson is waiting on the State Department to provide work-related emails that the FBI discovered Clinton never handed over, and Grassley is looking for more information on Teneo, a corporate consulting firm founded and run by Bill Clinton staffers and a Hillary Clinton state appointee.
Grassley's spokeswoman Jill Gerber said, "Sen. Grassley has always followed inquiries through to their logical end."
One GOP congressional aide said that Nunes, the House intelligence chairman, would introduce a bill to "tighten up security clearance rules and regulations, including whatever penalties should be exerted to people who do not properly classify that information."
Over in the Senate, Sen. John Cornyn, a Texas Republican and the second-highest ranking GOP senator, said that he intends to continue probing into whether Clinton Foundation donors gained special access to Clinton when she was secretary of state.
"I hope, soon, that we all get some answers," Cornyn said.
Clinton campaign spokesman Brian Fallon rejected the lawmakers' plans as being politically motivated, saying, "This is exactly what Americans hate about Washington: Before the election has even happened, House Republicans are already plotting what political attacks they might wage against a potential Clinton administration."
Clinton told The New York Times, "I believe I have created so many jobs in the sort-of conspiracy theory machine factory, because honestly, they never quit."
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