Clinton used personal email account as Secretary of State
WASHINGTON (AP) — Hillary Rodham
Clinton used a personal email account
during her time as secretary of state,
rather than a government-issued email
address, potentially hampering efforts to
archive official government documents
required by law.
Clinton's office said nothing was illegal or
improper about her use of the non-
government account and that she believed
her business emails to State Department
and other .gov accounts would be archived
in accordance with government rules.
"Like secretaries of state before her, she
used her own email account when
engaging with any department officials,"
Clinton spokesman Nick Merrill said. "For
government business, she emailed them
on their department accounts, with every
expectation they would be retained. When
the department asked former secretaries
last year for help ensuring their emails
were in fact retained, we immediately said
'yes.'"
"Both the letter and spirit of the rules
permitted State Department officials to
use non-government email, as long as
appropriate records were preserved," he
said.
Deputy State Department spokeswoman
Marie Harf said the agency asked former
secretaries of state Madeleine Albright,
Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice and Clinton
last year for records that should be
preserved. In response to that request,
Clinton provided emails from the personal
account that she used during her time as
the nation's top diplomat in President
Barack Obama's first term from 2009 to
2013. However, she also said that the
department has "long had access to a wide
array" of Clinton's records, including
emails sent between her and officials with
an official state.gov email address.
Harf says Clinton's successor, John Kerry,
is the first secretary of state to primarily
use an official state.gov email account and
that the department is now updating its
records preservation policies to bring them
