Clinton camp defends private email account

A spokesman for Hillary Clinton is defending the former secretary of State’s use of a private email account for official business, arguing her actions are not unique.

{mosads}”Like Secretaries of State before her, she used her own email account when engaging with any Department officials. For government business, she emailed them on their Department accounts, with every expectation they would be retained,” Nick Merrill said in an email.

“When the Department asked former Secretaries last year for help ensuring their emails were in fact retained, we immediately said ‘yes.’ “

The New York Times reported late Monday that Clinton, the presumptive front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination, might have violated transparency rules by solely using her personal email address for official business.

The issue will undoubtedly raise questions as to whether all of her official emails were turned over, as well as whether those emails were safe from hackers and other intruders, questions that could dog Clinton if she announces a White House bid.

Former Gov. Jeb Bush (R-Fla.), largely considered one of the front-runners for the GOP nomination in 2016, criticized Clinton on Twitter late Monday, calling for the release of all her unclassified emails.

Merrill said that Clinton’s actions were in line with agency policies.

“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.

“As a result of State’s request for our help to make sure they in fact were, that is what happened here. As the Department stated, it is in the process of updating its record preservation policies to bring them in line with its retention responsibilities.”