Hillary Clinton has said she regrets using private email account while serving as secretary of state.
She has also said she wished she had made a “different choice”.
“I’m sorry this has been confusing,” Hillary Clinton told MSNBC.
Her use of private email has generated a barrage of criticism as Hillary Clinton runs for the Democratic presidential nomination for the 2016 election.
Critics say that Hillary Clinton’s set-up was not secure, contrary to government policy, and meant to shield her from oversight.
Photo MSNBC
Political analysts – including fellow Democrats – have said the Clinton campaign has stumbled in its response to the controversy and Hillary Clinton had not seemed contrite – at times even making jokes about the email issue.
A more somber Hillary Clinton took full responsibility in Friday’s interview, saying she didn’t “stop and think” about how use of a private email account would be perceived.
It has been a major issue in the presidential race. Polls show an increasing number of voters view her as “untrustworthy” due in part to the questions surrounding Hillary Clinton’s email use.
Under US federal law, officials’ correspondence is considered to be US government property.
Government employees are encouraged to use official email accounts although some top officials have used personal accounts in the past.
In March, Hillary Clinton said she and her lawyers made the decision over what would be considered work-related email when the state department asked for records from former secretaries of state.
The emails deemed work-related were about half of the 60,000 emails she sent in total during her time in office. The emails she deemed personal were deleted, Hillary Clinton said.
Since then, the state department has been releasing the emails to the public in batches about once a month.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said she conducted government business on a private email account out of “convenience”.
Hillary Clinton said it “would have been better” to have two accounts to separate work and personal emails.
She is seen as a top contender for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination.
The state department said it will release her emails, about 55,000 printed pages in total, after a review.
“I thought using one device would be simpler; obviously, it hasn’t worked out that way,” Hillary Clinton said.
Officials’ correspondence is considered government records under federal law.
Hillary Clinton made no clarifying remarks about her potential run for president during the news conference.
Photo Reuters
She said no classified material was sent from the private account and said her use of personal email was permitted by the state department.
Hillary Clinton said she and her staff made the decision over what would be considered personal email when the state department asked for records from former secretaries of state.
“I fully complied with every rule,” she said.
She also said she had discarded thousands of personal emails including ones about planning her daughter’s wedding and her mother’s funeral.
Hillary Clinton added the “vast majority” of her emails related to state department business were automatically recorded because they were in correspondence with other government officials.
She used email from a private server set up for her husband, former President Bill Clinton, in their family home in New York which is guarded by the Secret Service.
She told reporters the contents of the server would remain private.
In a separate news conference state department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said a review of Hillary Clinton’s emails for publication would likely take months.
Jen Psaki said on March 10 that once the review is complete, the emails will be posted online for the public to see.
Passages revealing anything from trade secrets to sensitive national security information could be redacted, in keeping with open records law guidelines.
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