Hillary Clinton facing increased scrutiny over personal emails

Hillary Clinton is facing increased scrutiny for using a personal email account for work while she was US secretary of state, casting shadow over the expected launch of her 2016 US presidential campaign.

The former US first lady and US senator has come under intense criticism after the New York Times published a report Monday that suggested Clinton violated federal regulations by using a personal email account for government business, potentially shielding her correspondence from public inquiries.

On Thursday, the Washington Post reported that the State Department was investigating whether Clinton violated policies designed to protect sensitive information when she conducted all of her official business through her private email account while serving as top US diplomat from 2009 to 2013.

Using personal email does not necessarily violate rules as long as they are properly preserved, according to the State Department.

On Wednesday, a US House of Representatives panel investigating the 2012 terror attacks in Benghazi, Libya, issued a subpoena for all of Clinton's private emails related to the attack.

Hours after the subpoena, Clinton tried to tamp down the pressure by tweeting that she wanted the State Department to release the emails quickly.

But a senior State Department official said Thursday the task would take time. "The review is likely to take several months given the sheer volume of the document set," the official said.

Clinton’s email account, clintonemail.com, was hosted by a server located at her home, making it difficult to trace the account back to her.

Clinton is the presumptive favorite for the 2016 US presidential nomination from the Democratic Party.

But the deepening controversy threatens to damage Clinton's likely campaign, which is expected to be launched in the spring.

Some observers within the Democratic Party say the controversy has been poorly handled by Clinton’s advisers and wonder whether someone else should be their party’s candidate in the bid to succeed President Barack Obama.

Clinton has attracted plenty of criticism from Republicans for her lack of transparency and political gaffes since the administration of her husband, former President Bill Clinton.

“She’s a terrible politician,” Florida-based GOP strategist Rick Wilson told the Hill. “She has never won a genuinely contested election. She is spectacularly bad. If her name was ‘Hillary Jones’, she couldn’t get elected to a Mosquito Management Board in Florida.”

AHT/HRJ

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