E-mail woes persist for Clinton
WASHINGTON — Try as she might to focus on the policies she wants to enact if elected president, Hillary Rodham Clinton just can’t dig out of her inbox.
Clinton’s e-mail problems are getting worse. She agreed to turn over her private server to the Justice Department this week on the same day Congress got word that at least two e-mails that traversed the device while she was secretary of state contained information that warranted one of the government’s highest levels of classification.
The developments suggest the investigation into the security of Clinton’s e-mail setup could run deep into 2016, as she is trying to win the Democratic nomination for president and, potentially, the general election.
Clinton campaign aides argue there’s nothing for investigators to find, and the State Department says it’s not yet clear if the material at issue ought to be considered classified at all.
What worries Clinton’s team is the lingering whiff of political scandal in a tightening primary race, and they pushed back hard on Wednesday, trying their best to dismiss the matter as nothing more than politics.
“Look, this kind of nonsense comes with the territory of running for president. We know it, Hillary knows it, and we expect it to continue from now until Election Day,” campaign communications director Jennifer Palmieri wrote in an e-mail to supporters.
While her Democratic rivals have yet to seize on the issue, it has become a major part of the GOP case against Clinton.
Clinton’s campaign said she would turn over the server just hours after she wrapped up two days of campaigning in New Hampshire, where she outlined a plan to address college affordability and student loan debt — a centerpiece proposal of her policy platform.
The announcement comes as her chief Democratic rival, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, is drawing some of the largest crowds of the presidential primaries. A self-described “democratic socialist,” Sanders has avoided addressing Clinton’s e-mail saga, keeping focused on policy disagreements over the economy, trade and the Keystone XL pipeline.
“From our perspective, we want to keep this about Bernie and his message,” said Sanders campaign strategist Tad Devine. “If you look at the polling, people are coming to the view that this is not an inevitable nomination anymore.”
