A top Hillary Clinton aide suggested telling Republicans on the House Select Committee on Benghazi to "bring a dolly!" after the committee issued subpoenas seeking all email correspondence relating to the deadly September 2012 attack on U.S. government facilities in Benghazi, Libya that left four Americans dead, hacked emails show.
The exchange was contained within the WikiLeaks email dump of Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta’s account, and occurred around the time it was discovered that Clinton had used a private homebrewed server while at the State Department.
Nick Merrill, Clinton’s current traveling press secretary, forwarded the Benghazi committee announcement of the subpoenas on March 4, 2015, to numerous Clinton aides.
"The Select Committee on Benghazi today issued subpoenas for all communications of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton related to Libya and to the State Department for other individuals who have information pertinent to the investigation," the statement read. "The Committee also has issued preservation letters to internet firms informing them of their legal obligation to protect all relevant documents."
Philippe Reines, a former senior adviser to Clinton at the State Department and now her media gatekeeper, then suggested tweeting that if they wanted the documents they should "bring a dolly!"
"Should just Tweet: No need for this, happy for you to have what I gave State. If they can’t, I will. Bring a dolly!" Reines wrote in the email chain.
"Seriously?" Cheryl Mills, a longtime Clinton aide, responded.
"Not as flippantly, and maybe just from Nick’s mouth–but rather than going around and around on how to release the 55k, let’s just be for what’s happening and use this as the excuse," Reines responded. "Because we can say even if State has equities, not providing them would put her in legal jeopardy. OR, we say happy for them to have it, happy for the public to read them as soon as State is comforrtable [sic]. But let’s somehow take advantage of this."
Robby Mook, now Clinton’s campaign manager, jumped in to verify that the House subpoena was just for Libya and that the team was discussing releasing everything. Mills said yes to both.
John Podesta sent an email to Mills the same day asking if they should withhold exchanges that occurred between Clinton and President Obama.
Clinton’s campaign did not return a request for comment.