Hillary Clinton has apologised for
her use of a personal email account for official business whilst US
secretary of state between 2009-2013.
In a Facebook post, she wrote she was "sorry" and had made a "mistake".
Her
use of private email has generated a barrage of criticism as Mrs
Clinton runs for the Democratic presidential nomination for the 2016
election.
Critics say that her set-up was not secure, contrary to government policy, and meant to shield her from oversight.
Mrs Clinton apologised for the first time for using a personal account during an interview on Tuesday.
"That
was a mistake. I'm sorry about that. I take responsibility, and I'm
trying to be as transparent as I possibly can," she told ABC news.
On
her Facebook page Mrs Clinton wrote: "Yes, I should have used two email
addresses, one for personal matters and one for my work at the State
Department. Not doing so was a mistake. I'm sorry about it, and I take
full responsibility," she wrote.
'Nothing was classified'
Mrs
Clinton continued to deny that she had broken any government rules or
laws. She wrote that "nothing I ever sent or received was marked
classified at the time".
Political
analysts - including fellow Democrats - have said the Clinton campaign
has stumbled in its response to the controversy and Mrs Clinton had not
seemed contrite - at times even making jokes about the email issue.
It
has been a major issue in the presidential race. Polls show an
increasing number of voters view her as "untrustworthy" due in part to
the questions surrounding her email use. Image copyrightAPImage caption
Hillary Clinton was renowned for her use of a Blackberry phone whilst in office
Analysis, Jon Sopel, BBC North America editor
What
a journey. When it first emerged that she was using a private email
server during her period as secretary of state, Hillary Clinton was
abrasive and dismissive. It was a matter of convenience, and she had
done nothing wrong.
Even in the past week her position has
changed three times. Asked last Friday whether she was sorry, she said
she was just "sorry that it had been confusing to people". Then on
Monday she said no apology was needed: "What I did was allowed," she
declared.
Only on Tuesday night did she finally say about her
highly questionable email arrangement: "That was a mistake. I'm sorry
about that. I take responsibility."
Hillary Clinton will be hoping
that her mea culpa will be journey's end for this saga which has been
going on for six months - certainly her advisors hope that it will halt
her slide in the polls. What many critics of Mrs Clinton will be
asking, and some of her admirers will be thinking, is what took you so
long. Why Hillary Clinton's emails matter
Image copyrightAshley GoldImage caption
The emails often discussed mundane or non-urgent matters
State department investigation
Under US federal law, officials' correspondence is considered to be US government property.
Government
employees are encouraged to use official email accounts although some
top officials have used personal accounts in the past.
The state department has been investigating Mrs Clinton's use of a personal email server
In
March, Mrs Clinton said she and her lawyers made the decision over what
would be considered work-related email when the state department asked
for records from former secretaries of state.
The emails deemed
work-related were about half of the 60,000 emails she sent in total
during her time in office. The emails she deemed personal were deleted,
Mrs Clinton said.
Since then, the state department has been
releasing the emails to the public in batches about once a month. Some
of these emails have been censored by the department as they contain
classified information.
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