With her dark sunglasses and stony expression , the image of Hillary staring at her smartphone made her look such a boss that it launched its own Tumblr parody account . The photograph , which dates from a trip to Tripoli , Libya in September 2011 , was even adopted by the former Secretary of State herself for her Twitter profile picture . However , it seems that the picture which inspired hundreds of comedy memes could be no laughing matter for Clinton as it emerges the photograph could be a figurative smoking gun . Indeed , Clinton herself has removed the image removed from her Twitter account because it could show her using her controversial personal email account to conduct diplomacy in Libya . For more than a year , the former Secretary of State had used the monochrome image of her using a Blackberry on board a C-military plane headed to Tripoli in September 2011 , around a month after Colonel Gaddafi 's regime fell . But the picture , regularly seen by her 2.9million followers , was removed Sunday - ostensibly to promote a political campaign for gender equality , timed to coincide with International Women 's Day . The image was once a symbol of Clinton 's funny side as the face of the Texts From Hillary meme , which she said had given her 'many LOLZ ' - but fell out of favor this week . Switcheroo : Hillary Clinton swapped out a picture of her using a Blackberry on her way to Libya for a silhouette promoting a gender equality initiative . However , the change also comes at a time when senior figures in Congress are intensifying scrutiny of Hillary 's communications from 2009-13 , which it was recently revealed were not conducted via official State Department accounts . Clinton has handed over swathes of communications from the time , but it has been claimed that the documents have 'huge gaps ' . The image was mentioned by the chairman of a House committee into the 2012 attack on U.S. diplomats in Benghazi to suggest that vital communications from Clinton 's involvement in Libya were being kept from public view . Rep. Trey Gowdy ( R-South Carolina ) , today told CBS 's Face the Nation that he has been provided with no emails from the September 2011 trip - despite Clinton being clearly pictures communicating while aboard the plane . Proof ? The chairman of the House Committee on Benghazi mentioned that he has seen no emails from Clinton 's time in Libya , despite pictures such as this one from 2011 , showing her using a Blackberry . He said : 'There are gaps of months and months and months . And if you think to that iconic picture of her on a C-17 flying to Libya , she has sunglasses on and she has her handheld device in her hand , we have no e-mails from that day . In fact , we have no e-mails from that trip . 'So , it 's strange credibility to believe that if you 're on your way to Libya to discuss Libyan policy that there 's not a single document that has been turned over to Congress . 'So , there are huge gaps . And with respect to the president , it 's not up to Secretary Clinton to decide what is a public record and what 's not . ' Gowdy also said the records do n't include anything from around the dates of the Benghazi attack itself , in which the U.S. ambassador to Libya was killed . Suspicions : Rep. Trey Gowdy ( R-South Carolina ) mentioned the pictured of Clinton while contending that emails from her time in Libya had not been handed over . As of Sunday evening , Clinton 's profile still featured the Blackberry image , but as the 'header photo ' displayed at the top of the Twitter page . In order to see it , users have to access her profile directly . The image will not appear in the timelines of her followers , nor when she is retweeted or appears in search results . Clinton herself tweeted to explain the change of profile picture . She wrote : 'See my new profile pic to raise awareness on how far we 've come in reaching equal rights for women & girls worldwide . ' She also included a link to Not-There.org , which is sponsored by the Clinton foundation she runs with her husband , former President Bill Clinton . Hillary Clinton used to love the photograph now shunted out of her Twitter profile - at least enough to spend time making a meme out of it . After memes imagining her texting politicians and other celebrities took off , she made her own contribution . Diplomatically , unlike many entries on the Texts From Hillary Tumblr site , Hillary 's entry does not insult any political rivals , but just ribs the site 's creators . From Madam Secretary : Hillary Clinton made this entry into the Texts From Hillary meme herself - but has now replaced the recognizable photo .
Former secretary of State swapped out phone picture for a blank screen . Said the switch was to raise awareness of gender equality initiative . org amid huge scrutiny over use of private emails to enact foreign policy . Photograph was seized on to complain about emails withheld from Congress . Rep. senator Gowdy said it ' strains credibility ' to think emails from 2011 does not show Clinton dealing with Libya situation using private accounts .