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An investigative committee in the US Congress will subpoena former secretary of state Hillary Clinton's personal emails about the attack on the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya, in 2012. Photo: Kevin Lamarque

Washington: Former United States secretary of state Hillary Clinton's call for some of her private emails to be publicly disclosed won't placate her critics, especially Republicans on the House special committee investigating the 2012 attacks in Benghazi, Libya, who now demand access to far more information.

In a Twitter post late on Wednesday, Mrs Clinton said she wants the State Department to publicly release her emails in its possession. The State Department said on Thursday that it would begin a review of the more than 55,000 messages Mrs Clinton's staff provided late last year. That is a portion of the trove stored at clintonemail.com, her private domain since 2009. But Republicans on the panel said they are now asking for the emails Mrs Clinton hasn't provided to the department, as well as the messages on her personal domain server that were written and received by top aides.

"I can promise you that now we will be expanding the inquiry to include other State Department officials' personal emails," Representative Mike Pompeo, of Kansas, a member of the committee, said on Wednesday.

Mr Pompeo said the committee would demand access to documents the Clinton staff didn't turn over to the State Department, including those of her aide, Huma Abedin, and possibly several others.

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Mr Pompeo said the committee decided to expand the scope and breadth of its investigation as a result of two revelations this week: that Mrs Clinton intentionally created the domain clintonemail.com just before she took office, which he said showed intent to avoid oversight; and that other top State Department officials including Mrs Abedin may have used the clintonemail.com domain to hold personal accounts.

The panel's Republican House members are seizing on the revelations regarding Mrs Clinton's private email domain to expand their committee's mandate, delay Mrs Clinton's testimony and extend their investigation indefinitely. The committee chairman, Representative Trey Gowdy, of South Carolina, the chairman of the Benghazi committee, sent subpoenas to Mrs Clinton on Wednesday asking for access to her full email records, his office said.

Mr Pompeo said committee members were outraged that State Department officials had not disclosed "multiple" personal accounts held by Mrs Clinton and her aides that were used to conduct official business. Mrs Clinton's personal lawyer and the State Department say the secretary used only one personal email account.

Mr Pompeo said he "can't imagine" the committee would hear testimony from Mrs Clinton before the question of the emails that haven't been provided to the department has been resolved, meaning that the Benghazi committee's investigation will be extended by at least several months. The duration of the panel's investigation was never explicit. Also, he accused department officials of not being forthright in testimony to the committee in late January.

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Republicans want more Clinton emails