Hillary Clinton used personal email account at State, may have violated law

WASHINGTON (MyFoxBoston.com / AP) — Hillary Rodham Clinton used a personal email account during her time as secretary of state, rather than a government-issued email address.

Clinton's use of a personal email account while secretary of state was first reported by The New York Times.

Deputy State Department spokesperson Marie Harf says the department asked former secretaries of state last year for records that should be preserved. In response to that request, Clinton provided emails from her time as the nation's top diplomat.

While Clinton did hand over 55,000 electronic documents from her personal account, the Times report says her advisers looked through the account and chose which ones to hand over.

Aside from potential security concerns, Clinton's use of a private email address is problematic because official correspondence is supposed to be preserved for the historical record, per the Federal Records Act.

The State Department says it has "long had access to a wide array" of Clinton's records, including emails sent between her and officials with an official state.gov email address.

"It is very difficult to conceive of a scenario — short of nuclear winter — where an agency would be justified in allowing its cabinet-level head officer to solely use a private email communications channel for the conduct of government business," Jason Baron, a lawyer and former director of litigation at the National Archives and Records Administration, told the Times.

Harf says current Secretary of State John Kerry is the first person in that job to primarily use an official state.gov email account.

Multiple outlets have referenced concerns over secrecy. Because Clinton used a private address, it's not as easy to facilitate the transfer of documents legally belonging to the U.S. government.

A Washington Post report suggests Clinton's personal email address may be tied to an account registered at clintonemail.com, a domain registered in 2009 on the day the Senate confirmed her as Secretary of State.

No word yet on whether Clinton will face any legal consequences for using her personal email account during her time as Secretary of State. The Times article comes just one day after reports surfaced that Clinton may enter the presidential race in the next few months.

Cox Media Group