Most Democrats aren’t criticizing Hillary Clinton for having used personal email to conduct official business as secretary of state — but they aren’t exactly jumping to her defense, either.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and a longtime friend of Clinton, said she will withhold judgment until there is more information.
“Let’s see when all the facts come in,” the California Democrat told the Washington Examiner Wednesday. “I have great belief and very strong feelings that are positive for Hillary.”
And Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., told CNN the controversy has raised a “legitimate issue.”
“I’m sure she’s going to have to answer questions to make clear she has properly disclosed all the emails that might have existed on her private server,” Murphy said.
A New York Times report this week broke the news of Clinton’s use of personal email, sparking a political firestorm and questions about whether Clinton purposefully circumvented government rules to hide her correspondences from Congress and the public.
Clinton’s spokesman told the Times that Clinton had acted within the “letter and spirit of the rules,” which required officials to use government emails for business, in part so that records were properly archived.
Recently, Clinton did respond to a State Department request for her email records by turning over 55,000 pages of emails. But those messages were hand-picked from her archived by her aides, which has caused Republicans to ask whether more relevant documents exist.
In her first statement on the controversy, Clinton said Wednesday that she has “asked State to release” her emails in the department’s possession.
“I want the public to see my email,” Clinton tweeted.
Clinton was discovered to have exclusively used personal email for business by a House committee investigating the State Department response to the terror attacks in Benghazi, Libya, on Sept. 11, 2012.
That committee Wednesday subpoenaed the State Department for all of Clinton’s emails relevant to Libya.
“I did not want to believe it, but everything I’ve seen so far has led me to believe that this is an effort to go after Hillary Clinton. Period,” Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., told reporters Wednesday, according to the Hill.
Slowly, Clinton’s closest allies have stepped up to defend her. In an op-ed, David Brock, chairman of the pro-Clinton group Correct The Record, dismissed the controversy as “media hype.”
Democratic strategist Paul Begala went even further, telling CNN, “Voters do not give a shit about what email Hillary used.”
“They don’t even give a fart,” Begala added.
But Republicans have begged to differ, and have rushed to attack Clinton for the practice. Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., who chairs the House committee that uncovered Clinton’s official use of personal email, called it “troubling.” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a potential candidate for president, said it was “unacceptable.” And former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, a frontrunner for the presidency, said the “emails should be released.”
The White House, for its part, has done little to fill the void of support for Clinton. Press secretary Josh Earnest said Wednesday that Clinton used personal email in spite of”very specific guidance”urging officials to use government accounts.
