How Hillary Clinton answers on e-mail flap created more questions (+video)
Last week, we learned for seemingly the first time that, while she was secretary of State from 2009 through the beginning of 2013,Hillary Clinton solely utilized a private e-mail accountthat was set up on a server that was kept in her home rather than an official State Department e-mail account. Rather than going away like a one-day story, the story has percolated in the political media thanks in no small part to the fact that new revelations and questions seemed to be coming out every day while the White House and State Department both seemed to be rather ham-handed in their response to questions about how it came about the Clinton was allowed to do this back in 2009, what kind of security was involved, who had control over the server itself, and whether or not Hillary Clinton had ever communicated with the president or other White House personnel using her personal e-mail account. Through it all, though, there was almost no response from Hillary Clinton outside of a single tweet when the story first broke. Obviously, her advisers had hoped the story would die out on its own, but it became apparent by the time the new week began that this wasnt the case so, on Tuesday,the former secretary of State addressed the media after an appearance at the United Nations, but her statements created as many questions as they answered:
Hillary Rodham Clinton on Tuesday defended her exclusive use of a private email address during her time as secretary of state as a matter of convenience, saying that about 30,000 of her work-related emails would be made public, but that thousands more that she deemed personal had been deleted.
I thought using one device would be simpler; obviously, it hasnt worked out that way, she said in her first public comments since the issue emerged last week.
She said that most of her emails were work-related, went to government employees and were captured on government servers. Mrs. Clinton said that the State Department would make public all of her work-related emails, but that her personal email about issues such as her daughters wedding and the death of her mother would remain private.
I feel that I have taken unprecedented steps to provide these public emails; they will be in the public domain, she said.
Mrs. Clinton spoke for about 20 minutes during a news conference, delivering a statement on womens issues and denouncing moves by Republican lawmakers to undermine efforts for a nuclear agreement with Iran, before turning to the controversy over her emails.
Expressing a mix of regret and defensiveness over the matter, Mrs. Clinton emphasized that she broke no laws. I fully complied with every rule, she said, adding that no classified material had been sent on her email.
However, she remained steadfast that she would not turn over personal emails and said that those messages in fact had been deleted.
They were about personal and private matters that I believed were in the scope of my personal privacy and particularly that of other people, she said. They had nothing to do with work. I didnt see a need to keep them.
The State Department said on Tuesday that it would publish online the full set of emails provided by Mrs. Clinton from her time as secretary of state.
Originally posted here:
How Hillary Clinton answers on e-mail flap created more questions (+video)