House panel to probe claims of Clinton perjury

By Julian Hattem - 08-18-16 07:49 AM EDT

Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee are planning to press officials from the FBI in a hearing scheduled for next month on allegations that Hillary Clinton committed perjury.

A GOP committee aide confirmed to The Hill that lawmakers intend to question the FBI about the lawmakers' charges during an oversight hearing planned at some point in September.

The move ups the ante for Republicans, who have pushed investigators to open a case into perjury charges against Clinton since the Justice Department announced last month that it would not indict the former secretary of State or her aides for mishandling classified information.

Earlier this week, Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) and Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) wrote to the U.S. attorney in Washington with detailed allegationsof how Clinton appeared to have misspoken about key details of her email setup before the House Select Committee on Benghazi last October.

During a marathon appearance before that panel, Clinton made at least four concrete statements about her bespoke email arrangement that the FBI later proved to be false, the lawmakers claim. For instance, Clinton claimed at the time that none of the messages on her machine were marked as classified, though FBI Director James Comey later asserted that at least three bore some markings indicating they were sensitive.

The FBI told the lawmakers earlier this month that it was reviewing their recommendations and "will take appropriate action as necessary."

News of the upcoming hearing was first reported by USA Today.

Republicans' intentions to focus on the allegations during next month's hearing illustrates that the lawmakers are insistent on pressing the matter and likely won't abandon the push until the November elections. The strategy is likely to provoke condemnation from Democrats, who accuse GOP lawmakers of trying to resurrect tired controversies to attack Clinton's presidential hopes and distract from turbulence faced by Republican nominee Donald Trump.

For Clinton, extended focus on the allegations could prove damaging. The former secretary of State has struggled with the image that she is dishonest and untrustworthy.