After days of silence, U.S. Democrat Hillary Clinton has finally spoken up on the controversial issue involving her private email account allegedly used for official business during her stint as secretary of state.

Clinton tweeted, "I want the public to see my email.  I asked the State to release them. They said they will review them for release as soon as possible."

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Clinton's statement hopes to address a controversy that has set off a firestorm in U.S. politics.  The potential 2016 presidential candidate was accused of using her personal email during her stint as secretary of state from 2009 to 2013.

Such practice allegedly gave Clinton control over limiting access to her message archives. This has placed Clinton in hot water, just as she is preparing to launch her bid for the 2016 presidency as a democratic nominee.

The State Department said it is reviewing emails provided by Clinton following a standard process.

"We will undertake this review as quickly as possible. Given the sheer volume of the document set, this review will take some time to complete," State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said.

The account was discovered by the House Select Committee investigating the 2012 attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi , Libya that killed U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three others.  Clinton was at the center of that controversy as Republicans accused her of not doing enough to ensure the safety of Americans there.

The committee issued subpoenas for her emails and requested Internet firms to protect all documents significant and useful to the investigation.

Rep. Trey Gowdy, the Republican chairman of the Benghazi committee, gave a two-week deadline to receive the documents.

The Republican's actions toward Clinton did not sit well with Rep. Elijah Cummings, the top Democrat on the Benghazi committee.  Cummings said the controversial email issue was just used to attack Clinton.

Cummings pointed out that Colin Powell also used his personal email account for official business when he was secretary of state under Former President George W. Bush.

The State Department had earlier defended Clinton saying during her time, use of private email was not prohibited provided it was preserved. 

The State Department had received a total of 55,000 pages of documents containing Clinton's emails.

Tagsclinton, email scandal, Benghazi, Hillary Clinton, 2016 presidential bid