Hillary Clinton is being called to testify on Benghazi as early as mid-May, according to Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-South Carolina, chair of a committee tasked with investigating the attacks.
This will be the first time the former Secretary of State will testify before the committee that was set up specifically to look into the 2012 attacks in Libya that killed four Americans including Ambassador Chris Stevens.
The House Select Committee on Benghazi is requesting two public hearings with the 2016 presidential candidate. One will focus on her use of a private email account when she was secretary of state and another on the 2012 terrorist attacks in Benghazi.
The announcement comes after Clinton's attorney, David Kendall, requested that Clinton testify sooner than later. The request came after House Republicans announced that the investigation was going to take longer than expected, extending into the thick of the presidential election.
"If they help me get the documents and the witnesses are available, there is no reason to go into 2016," Gowdy told NBC News.
In a letter sent to Clinton's lawyer, Gowdy said the committee will schedule a public hearing with the former Secretary of State for the week of May 18, 2015 "to discuss ensuring the public record is complete" with regards to her emails. The Committee still remains "amenable" to do a private, transcribed interview instead, if Clinton would rather.
"Discussing Secretary Clinton's exclusive use of private email with which to conduct public business is a necessary predicate to discussing the facts surrounding the terrorist attacks in Benghazi," the letter reads.
The letter goes on to say, the committee will schedule a second public hearing with Clinton with "respect to the 2012 terrorist attacks in Benghazi" to take place no later than June 18, 2015.
- Leigh Ann Caldwell and Alex Moe