The controversy over Hillary Clinton's use of a private e-mail account - and a server in her Chappaqua, New York home - in her tenure as Secretary of State has made Democrats nervous and Republicans giddy. Because Mrs. Clinton did not use a government-issued address for her official correspondence during her secretaryship, the GOP is convinced that she's hiding private e-mails that have something to do with national security - and possibly the Benghazi incident. (Republicans still want to know what happened in Libya back in September 2012 without showing much concern for what's happening in Libya now.) Also, there are concerns - genuine, to some extent - that there are improtant e-mails Mrs. Clinton has sent that ought to be archived for public and historical record but aren't.
Mrs. Clinton submitted over 50,000 pages of e-mails from her private account to the State Department in late 2014, in accordance with the newly Federal Records Act was passed, at the department's request. No one knows if there are more e-mails available, and the select committee on Benghazi has asked for - no, demanded - more of them. This comes on the heels of the Clinton Global Initiative acknowledging receipt of foreign contributions and the gray area involving the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee regarding said contributions. This case is also gray. Mrs. Clinton was permitted to use her personal e-mail account for public correspondence, as previous Secretaries of State had been - John Kerry is actually the first Secretary of State to be required to use only a government e-mail account for official business - but Mrs. Clinton's use of a personal account for correspondence that public had the right to access looks pretty awkward at best . . . especially when right-wing conspiracy theorists see an attempt to hide something.
Republicans shouldn't get excited over the idea of exposing Mrs. Clinton as a a scandalous public official who tried to cover up some nefarious scheme; when she releases her records to the select House committee, it should put the matter to rest. That said, Democrats shouldn't get too excited about her presidential candidacy. If it turns out that she has feet of clay, there's really no one else they can turn to as an alternative.
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Update: Hillary Clinton has announced via social media that she is releasing all of her e-mails from 2009 to 2013 because she believes the public should see them all. She must think this will put the issue to rest. It won't. Republicans will only want more information, and Democrats are unhappy at the way she's handled everything in such a secretive way. This also serves to remind folks about everything they don't like about the Clintons. Also, it makes Obama and his State Department look bad. Her nomination for President could bring the Democratic Party to an end faster than you can say "Winfield Scott." :-O
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