Hillary Clinton has apologized for using a private email address and server when she was part of President Obama’s cabinet, but Obama has not sought contrition from his previous secretary of state, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said on Thursday.
“No, I don’t think that he has asked or sought anything like that,” Earnest said when a reporter asked if the president was seeking an apology. “Clearly, Secretary Clinton was speaking about her own views and her own feelings about exactly what had happened; and she made those views known.”
Earnest declined to offer Obama’s opinion on her apology delivered during a recent TV interview.
“He believes that is entirely her decision to make,” Earnest said.
Obama was likely aware emails he received from Clinton came from an address other than her official State Department email, Earnest confirmed.
“I’ve acknowledged before that I think most people who are trading emails are aware of that other person’s address,” Earnest said. However, Obama likely had no idea that she was using a private, non-government server.
As an example, he said he’s not aware of how Fox News has set up email addresses for its employees. After the reporter objected that Fox’s email system was not in question, Earnest said that was his point.
“Well, I don’t know that to be true,” he responded. “I think that’s the point I’m trying to make here,” he said, adding that most people have no idea how the emails of the person they are electronically communicating with are processed or stored.
