Hillary Clinton on Tuesday defended her use of a private email account as secretary of state, saying she had done so as a matter of convenience and has since turned over all work-related correspondence to the State Department. But she acknowledged deleting “personal” emails unrelated to business, such as correspondence around her daughter Chelsea’s wedding and planning for her mother’s funeral.
The msnbc.com community has a lot of opinions about, and suggestions for, the potential presidential candidate.
On the ‘didn’t want to carry two devices’ point:
biggestwhoop: Could you access multiple email accounts in 2009 with just one phone?
mr_gene_j: I access (3) email accounts with one phone.
Arien Seghetti: Total BS. I have one device and 4 email accounts on that one device. I only get alerts when my work email comes through.
@BrauIA: If you work for the federal government, you can’t use your personal phone for your work email. It’s a security thing. I worked in a congressional office and had to carry a BlackBerry along with my personal iPhone. Pain in the butt but I understand why they do it.
On Hillary’s tone and mannerisms:
mr_gene_j: She sounds so condescending.
Don Eckert: She seems more than forthcoming.
Hawa C: I think she did a great job detoxing the situation. This probably won’t go away until folks read the emails and I’m sure some folks probably still won’t be satisfied until they release the server.
John: Very lame “dog ate my homework” excuse making.
Eric Willis: Wow this fell really flat. Almost sounded like she wasn’t even trying to have a good reason. Convenience and two devices? We all have multiple email addresses on one device, so weak excuse No. 1. No classified email went to her on her only email account? Not believable. Trying to compare a server in her home vs. gmail or hotmail is also week. No other secretary of state had their own server in their home. That was about the only unprecedented thing she did.
On whether or not the email controversy is a ‘big deal’:
Jason Marcel: I don’t get why this is a big deal. Before email, secretaries of state talked on the phone with everyone and NOTHING was recorded. But now we’re asking these people to record every conversation? Makes no sense to me.
Cat D: I think she was compliant with all the rules at the time she was secretary of state, all the records are available publicly and answered my questions, thoroughly. Any further commentary will spin the truth to the opposition’s advantage.
scott-2720865: At the end of the day this changes no sway of support for either the Republicans or Democrats come 2016. People vote on principle and their philosophy for their desired government. People’s minds are made up. Democrats will still support her and Republicans will continue to support their politicians. People overall will not see email usage as such a horrible offense in my humble opinion. logitalk: Not a single question on Iran … way to go media people. Gossip TV wins out over national security every time. GMJoiner: To make this matter go away Hillary should turn over her server. biggestwhoop: You can’t get a warrant to search my house unless you have reason to believe a law was broken … so what law did she break? And why must she turn over her server? whyhavewelostallcommonsense: Democrats better find a new candidate. Not that the Clintons were trustworthy before, but they certainly aren’t now. On the right to privacy: @Laurie_E_Davis: You’re missing the deeper issue of public/private in general. Whether by individual or by state, how do you appropriately decide what is private and what is public? Do you need permission from recipients to release private emails? Jeb Bush released his emails and exposed a health care condition of a private citizen. This is a relatively new technological problem, regardless of how many devices one has. Sue-511204: I think employees should not use business email for personal emails. It doesn’t matter if you work for the government or a private company. When I have personal issues I use my personal email. Makes it simple. sanjay-2104760: I think most politicians do what they can to hide stuff from (FOIA) Freedom of Information Act. Comments have been edited for clarity. What did you think of Clinton’s response to the private email controversy? Let us know in the comments.
Emily Samsel
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