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Clinton: State Dept. report critical of email server won't affect presidency

By Eric DuVall
A new report from the State Department Inspector General was harshly critical of Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server while secretary of state. File Photo by Dennis Van Tine/UPI
A new report from the State Department Inspector General was harshly critical of Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server while secretary of state. File Photo by Dennis Van Tine/UPI | License Photo

LOS ANGELES, May 26 (UPI) -- Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton said Wednesday night a State Department report critical of her use of a private email server is not "going to affect either the campaign or my presidency."

The report by the State Department inspector general said Clinton clearly violated federal government policy when she instructed aides to set up a private email server to use in her home, rather than use a government-issued one. The inspector general's report said there was no evidence Clinton ever sought permission to set up the email server and that, if she had, she would have been denied.

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Clinton, speaking to a Spanish-language television station in Los Angeles on Wednesday, was asked about the report and downplayed its relevance.

"Well, there may be reports that come out, but nothing has changed," Clinton said. "It's the same story."

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Clinton's likely general election opponent, Republican Donald Trump, called the report "devastating."

Trump was asked during a press conference in North Dakota on Thursday for his response to the report and his prior comments, when he said he thought the email investigation might force Clinton out of the race.

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Trump stopped short of calling on Clinton to quit, but said the email investigation will be a major issue in the campaign.

"Actually, I sort of like her in the race, I want to run against it," Trump said. "Probably illegal, certainly bad judgment. It's devastating. There's no reason for it, skirting on the edge all the time."

Trump said he would wait for the result of the FBI's investigation into the issue.

Clinton did not cooperate with the State Department investigation, instead saying she and her staff will work with the FBI, which is investigating whether any national security laws were broken due to Clinton's handling of government information.

The CIA has since marked 22 emails on Clinton's server classified, though the emails were not classified when they were sent, only after they were reviewed and found to have contained information that could not be released to the public for national security reasons. Another roughly 2,000 emails contained retroactively classified information that had to be redacted before they could be released to the public.

Clinton pointed out, as she has in the past, that predecessors also used private email accounts, though the IG report says none of her predecessors or fellow Obama administration colleagues went to the extent she did to intentionally set up a private server to avoid using a government-issued account that would have been subject to Freedom of Information laws.

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Clinton said in the interview the resulting fallout from her email scandal has actually brought a higher level of transparency to her time as secretary of state than any other candidate in the race.

"I have turned over all of my emails. No one else can say that," Clinton said. "I have been incredibly open about doing that. I will continue to be open, and it's not an issue that is going to affect either the campaign or my presidency."

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