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Here’s How Hillary Finally Addressed Her Use Of A Private Email Account For Government Business

Chuck Ross Investigative Reporter
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A full two days after news broke that she exclusively used a private email account during her four years as secretary of state, Hillary Clinton finally weighed in to defend herself on Twitter Wednesday night.

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Clinton’s use of a private email address — HDR22@clintonemail.com — for official government business has been widely criticized since its existence was revealed on Monday. The former first lady came under additional scrutiny on Wednesday when it was reported that she had an email server installed in her Chappaqua, N.Y. home.

Doing so allowed Clinton to avoid having to provide documents in response to public records requests. The private server also provided protection from subpoenas and other legal actions.

Clinton’s tweet does not add much clarity to the ongoing email saga. Did she ask the State Department to release all of her emails in the days since news of the private account broke? Will they be released in full, or will they merely be made available through Freedom Of Information Act requests? The habitually secretive Clinton did not follow up with other tweets to answer those questions.

Clinton’s sole use of the private email account was discovered by the House Select Committee investigating Benghazi. Clinton turned over about 55,000 emails to the State Department in December. The agency turned over 300 Benghazi-related emails a few weeks ago.

Besides eschewing transparency, Clinton potentially broke federal law and also left herself vulnerable to hackers, experts have argued.

Though the State Department said it has no indication Clinton sent or received classified documents on the account, many have expressed skepticism that she could have avoided doing so during her entire tenure as secretary of state.

During Clinton’s time as secretary of state, a National Archives regulation stipulated that federal employees who use private email accounts to conduct government business must make sure those records are ultimately stored “in the appropriate agency recordkeeping system.”

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