( CNN ) The State Department only last month started automatically preserving dozens of high-level officials ' emails , according to a department spokeswoman , a revelation that comes amid the controversy surrounding former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton 's own email use . This is key because Clinton , in her news conference on Tuesday to answer questions about why she exclusively used a private email address to communicate during her tenure , told reporters she 'd thought her communications to senior department officials were always saved . That 's an important point , given legal requirements for preserving federal records . `` In meeting the record-keeping obligations , it was my practice to email government officials on their State or dot-gov accounts so that the emails were immediately captured and preserved , '' she said . The news about the State Department 's archiving practices -- and the change that started in February -- could refuel the furor of Republicans over Clinton 's choice to not use her government email account , to have a private server in her family home house her emails , and to decide ( with her staff ) which emails to delete and which to turn over to the State Department for review . Rep. Susan Brooks , a member of the select committee investigating the 2012 Benghazi attack , said in the Republicans ' weekly media address Saturday , `` You see , right now there is no way for us to know whether we have all of the State Department communications that rightfully belong to the American people . '' `` The only way to truly know is by having access to Secretary Clinton 's personal server , '' the Indiana Republican added . `` We are asking Secretary Clinton to turn her server over to a neutral , third-party arbiter . After a complete inventory , this arbiter can make a determination as to which emails should be public and which should remain private . These decisions would be completely impartial and independent . '' So far , Brooks ' committee had gotten just under 300 of Clinton 's emails from the State Department . Last year , as it was trying to update its records , the State Department asked former secretaries of state for nonpersonal emails from their personal accounts that could be work-related . That request prompted Clinton to turn over 30,490 emails -- about 55,000 pages . Clinton has asked for those emails to be made public , and department officials are reviewing them to make sure no sensitive information is released . Clinton 's office had said her account contained 62,320 sent and received emails from March 2009 to February 2013 . `` About half were personal that were not in any way related to work . I had no reason to save them , '' Clinton said at her press conference . The fact that all emails from senior officials were n't automatically saved until recently does n't mean they are gone , according to the State Department . `` I would n't state it 's lost to history , because there are always -- there are technical means of gaining access to past information , '' spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Friday . At the same time , Psaki said the State Department chose to change its approach -- by automatically saving all emails -- `` because it 's an imperfect system . '' `` This is a more efficient and better way , '' she said of the new system . `` But , obviously , there were ways to preserve ( emails ) , and employees and individuals were expected to do that prior to this new process . '' Separately , Psaki said that a letter was recently sent to former State Department staffers asking for their help in the preservation effort . `` If they should become aware ... of federal record in their possession -- such as an email sent or received on a personal email account while ( they were ) serving in their official capacity at the Department -- that ... record ( should ) be made available to the Department , '' Psaki said the ex-staffers were told . Even before last month 's chance , emails of current Secretary of State John Kerry , who uses a government address , were already being saved automatically . CNN 's Adam Levine contributed to this report .
Clinton used a private email address while Secretary of State . She 's said she thought her communications to officials were always saved . However , a State Department official says emails were n't automatically archived until last month .