Clinton campaign: Email setup ‘not unique’

Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign sought to minimize criticism Wednesday after a federal watchdog said she and her aides did not comply with State Department email policies, saying the record-keeping problems were longstanding.

{mosads}The former secretary of State’s “use of personal email was not unique,” Brian Fallon said in a statement, “and she took steps that went much further than others to appropriately preserve and release her records.”

The statement comes after the department’s Office of the Inspector General reported that Clinton’s use of a private email address and server violated internal regulations.

Read Fallon’s full statement below:

“While political opponents of Hillary Clinton are sure to misrepresent this report for their own partisan purposes, in reality, the Inspector General documents just how consistent her email practices were with those of other Secretaries and senior officials at the State Department who also used personal email. The report shows that problems with the State Department’s electronic recordkeeping systems were longstanding and that there was no precedent of someone in her position having a State Department email account until after the arrival of her successor. Contrary to the false theories advanced for some time now, the report notes that her use of personal email was known to officials within the Department during her tenure, and that there is no evidence of any successful breach of the Secretary’s server. We agree that steps ought to be taken to ensure the government can better maintain official records, and if she were still at the State Department, Secretary Clinton would embrace and implement any recommendations, including those in this report, to help do that. But as this report makes clear, Hillary Clinton’s use of personal email was not unique, and she took steps that went much further than others to appropriately preserve and release her records.”