Hillary Clinton on Tuesday finally addressed the growing controversy surrounding her use of a private e-mail system while Secretary of State. After the Democrat's opening statement on the subject, NBC's Andrea Mitchell attempted a question. Clinton interrupted and turned to international media,Turkish television. Kahraman Haliscelik began, "Thank you very much for your remarks and it's wonderful to see you here again."
Offering this softball, Haliscelik wondered, "...If you were a man, today, would all of this fuss being made be made? Thank you." Clinton demurred, "Well, I will leave that to others to answer." Haliscelik managed, "Madam Secretary, why did you opt out [and not use] two devices at the time?"
The toughest question came from ABC's Jon Karl. He grilled:
JON KARL: Madam Secretary, State Department rules at the time you were secretary were perfectly clear that if a State Department employee was going to be using private e-mail, that employee needed to turn those e-mails over to the State Department to be preserved on government computers. Why did you not do that? Why did you not go along with State Department rules and until nearly two years after you left for office? And also, the President of the United States said that he was unaware you had this unusual e-mail arrangement. The White House Counsel's office says that you never approved this arrangement through them. Why did you not do that? Why have you apparently caught the White House by surprise? And one last political question, if I might, does all of this make -- affect your decision in any way whether or not to run for president?
A clearly irritated Clinton responded, "Well, let me try and unpack your multiple questions."
Mitchell also pressed:
ANDREA MITCHELL: Can you explain how you decided which of the personal e-mails to get rid of, how you got rid the them and when and how you respond to questions about you being the arbiter of what you release? And secondly, could you answer questions raised about foreign contributions from Middle Eastern countries like Saudi Arabia that abuse women or permit violence against women to the family foundation and whether that disturbs you, as you are rightly celebrating 20 years of leadership on this issue?
According to Business Insider, "[Clinton spokesman] Nick Merrill handpicked which reporters got to ask questions throughout the press conference. Journalists who attempted to get their questions in outside of this process were ignored."
[Thanks to the MRC's Ken Shepherd for the video.]
A transcript of all the questions can be found below:
Hillary Clinton press conference:
3/10/15
3:04HILLARY CLINTON: Now, I'm happy to take a few questions.
ANDREA MITCHELL: Secretary Clinton, can you explain –
CLINTON: Just a minute. Nick is calling on people.
KAHRAMAN HALISCELIK: Madam secretary, Kahraman Haliscelik, Turkish television. On behalf of the UN Correspondents Association, thank you for very much for your remarks and it's wonderful to see you here again. Madam Secretary, why did you opt out not using two devices at the time? Obviously if this didn't come out, you wouldn't probably wouldn't become an issue. And my second follow-up question is, if you were a man, today, would all of this fuss being made be made? Thank you.
CLINTON: Well, I will leave that to others to answer. But as I -- as I said, I saw it as a matter of convenience and it was allowed. Others had done it, according to the State Department, which recently said Secretary Kerry was the first secretary of state to rely primarily on a State.gov e-mail account, and when I got there, I wanted to just use one device for both personal and work e-mails instead of two. It was allowed. And, as I said, it was for convenience and it was my practice to communicate with State Department and other government officials on their .gov accounts so those e-mails would be automatically saved in the State Department system to meet record keeping requirements, and that is indeed what happened.
..
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3:06MITCHELL: Can you explain how you decided which of the personal e-mails to get rid of, how you got rid the them and when and how you respond to questions about you being the arbiter of what you release? And secondly, could you answer questions raised about foreign contributions from Middle Eastern countries like Saudi Arabia that abuse women or permit violence against women to the family foundation and whether that disturbs you, as you are rightly celebrating 20 years of leadership on this issue?
...
3:09
UNIDENTIFIED: I was wondering if you think that you made mistake either in exclusively using your private e-mail or in the response to the controversy around that? And if so, what have you learned from that?
CNN's BRIANNA KEILAR: Did you or any of your aides delete any government-related e-mails from your personal account? And what, what lengths are you willing to go to prove that you didn't in some people including supporters suggest having an independent arbiter look at your server, for instance.
...
UNIDENTIFIED: Madam secretary, two quick follow-ups. You mentioned the server. That's one of the distinctions here. This wasn't G-mail or Yahoo or something. This was a server that you owned. Is that appropriate? Is it -- was there any precedent for it? Did you clear it with any State Department security officials, and did they have full access to it when you were secretary? And then, separately, will any of this have any bearing or effect on your timing or decision about whether or not you run for president? Thank you.
...
CBS's NANCY CORDES: Madam secretary, how could the public be assured that when you deleted e-mails that were personal in nature that you also didn't also delete the e-mails professional, but possibly unflattering? And what do think of the Republican idea of having an independent third party examine your e-mails?
...
JON KARL: Madam Secretary, State Department rules at the time you were secretary were perfectly clear that if a State Department employee was going to be using private e-mail, that employee needed to turn those e-mails over to the State Department to be preserved on government computers. Why did you not do that? Why did you not go along with State Department rules and until nearly two years after you left for office? And also, the President of the United States said that he was unaware you had this unusual e-mail arrangement. The White House Counsel's office says that you never approved this arrangement through them. Why did you not do that? Why have you apparently caught the White House by surprise? And one last political question, if I might, does all of this make -- affect your decision in any way whether or not to run for president?
CLINTON: Well, let me try and unpack your multiple questions...
...
KARL: Why did you wait two months to turn those e-mails over? I mean, the rules say you have to turn 'em over.
...
UNIDENTIFIED: Were you ever specifically briefed on the security implications of using your own e-mail server and using your personal address to e-mail with the president?
...
DAVID SHUSTER: What about Ambassador Scott Gration who was forced to resign two years ago because of the use of his personal e-mails? By the way, David Shuster from al Jazeera America. What about Ambassador Scott Gration being forced to resign?
CLINTON: David, I think you should go online and read the entire IG report. That is not an accurate representation of what happened.
