Several Republican presidential candidates Friday demanded that Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton turn over her private email server for review after two inspectors general asked the Justice Department to investigate whether classified information had been sent over the server.
"Hillary Clinton clearly believes she's above the law," former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee told Newsmax. "With today's revelation that she emailed classified information on a personal sever, Hillary has proven once against to be untrustworthy.
"Hillary's emails were about more than just wedding details and yoga routines as she originally claimed," he said in a statement. "Now, we know for certain that Hillary compromised the security of the United States of America, our people and our men and women in uniform.
"She must be held accountable for her secretive, irresponsible and illegal behavior at the State Department," Huckabee said.
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker told Newsmax that Attorney General Loretta Lynch must "do the right thing and immediately launch an investigation into whether Secretary Clinton broke the law and endangered our national security.
"Even if the investigation proceeds, however, we may never know the truth about what Clinton used her email for because she has already admitted deleting a trove of emails that could have been potential evidence.
"The United States cannot afford to have a commander-in-chief who believes it is worth risking the safety and security of the American people in order to avoid personal accountability and scrutiny," Walker said.
And former New York Gov. George Pataki used the developments to slam both Clinton and fellow GOP challenger Donald Trump.
He told Newsmax: "I have as much confidence in Obama's Justice Department as I do in Trump's hairdo on a windy day."
Two inspectors general asked the Justice Department to investigate Clinton's handling of classified information as she used her private server during her four years as the nation's top diplomat.
The New York Times reported late Thursday that the inspectors sought a criminal probe, and a Justice official
told The Wall Street Journal Friday that the probe was criminal in nature before later reversing course without comment.
"The department has received a referral related to the potential compromise of classified information. It is not a criminal referral," the official said.
A statement from I. Charles McCullough, the inspector general for the director of national intelligence, and his counterpart at the State Department, Steve Linick, said that McCullough's office found four emails containing classified information in a limited sample of 40 emails.
"This classified information should have never been transmitted via an unclassified personal system," they said.
Copies of the statement were provided to the Times.
Clinton has said that she sent no classified information on her private email account. The inspectors general's comments left open the possibility that Clinton sent or received emails with classified material that she was not aware of.
The former first lady has repeatedly said that she broke no laws or rules by eschewing a standard government email account.
Clinton spokesman Nick Merrill said Friday that she "followed appropriate practices in dealing with classified materials."
Clinton handed over some 30,000 emails from the private account to the State Department after she left office in 2013, but many thousands of others that she says are not related to her work were deleted.
"We are all accountable to the American people to get the facts right, and I will do my part," Clinton said at a speech in New York, noting she had handed over tens of thousands of pages of emails.
But Clinton's assurances weren't enough for Republicans, among them House Speaker John Boehner.
"Two inspector generals appointed by President Barack Obama have now called on the Justice Department to investigate Secretary Clinton’s mishandling of classified email," he said. "If Secretary Clinton truly has nothing to hide, she can prove it by immediately turning over her server to the proper authorities and allowing them to examine the complete record.
"What these reports demonstrate is the inherent risk of conducting our nation’s diplomacy and foreign policy on your home email and personal server," the Ohio Republican added.
"Secretary Clinton has repeatedly claimed that the work-related emails on her private home server did not include classified information, but we know that is not true.
"She has claimed she is well-aware of what matters are classified and what are not, and yet she set up a personal email server to discuss matters of national security despite guidance to the contrary from both her State Department and the White House.
"Her poor judgment has undermined our national security and it is time for her to finally do the right thing," Boehner said.
Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus referenced the recent breach at the Office of Personnel Management that compromised the Social Security numbers and other personal data of
more than 21 million Americans.
"In the last couple of weeks, hundreds of thousands of Americans had their personal data exposed because the administration failed to keep it safe," Priebus told Newsmax. "Now we learn that Hillary Clinton's desire to play by her own rules may have further exposed classified information.
"While a full investigation by the Justice Department is not just needed, but required, Hillary Clinton must also hand her entire secret server over to an independent third party for further review."
Huckabee said that "whether ignoring the warning calls from dying Americans in Benghazi or conveniently ignoring basic State Department security policies, Hillary Clinton puts selfish, political self-preservation above anything else.
"The American people deserve an independent Department of Justice criminal investigation into Hillary’s email fiasco," he told Newsmax. "Anything less is unconstitutional, unacceptable, and completely un-American."
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
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