Hillary: Yes, It Would Have Been 'Smarter' to Use 2 Emails

Hillary Clinton tried to defuse her email brouhaha today, acknowledging that, in hindsight, she probably should not have used her personal email account as secretary of state. But at the time she took the job and set up her system, it "didn't seem like an issue," Clinton told reporters at the UN. She also insisted that she complied with all the rules that were in place. "Looking back it would have been better to use separate phones and two separate email accounts," she said, as quoted by USA Today. (Later, she reiterated the point and said it would have been "smarter" to do so.) "I thought one (mobile) device would be simpler. Obviously, it hasn't worked out that way." Clinton also acknowledged that she deleted some personal emails from her server, but said no work emails were trashed.

Her choice to use the one email account was a matter of "convenience," not an attempt to keep things private, she said. Because most of the email she exchanged was with other government employees on their official accounts, it would therefore be preserved, she said, reports the New York Times. Clinton added that she did not send classified information over her personal account. Before she spoke, the State Department announced that it would make public her work-related emails once they were vetted, reports the Washington Post. The review of 55,000 emails could take several months. Clinton praised the decision to eventually put the emails online, notes Politico. “I believe I have met all of my responsibilities," she said. "The server will remain private." (More Hillary Clinton stories.)