OTHERS SAY

Email mess gets worse

AState Department audit has found that Hillary Clinton violated department rules in her use of a home email server and failed to properly preserve federal records as secretary of state. But even more troubling is Clinton’s refusal to be interviewed about her practices by government officials.

Allegations of bias from the Clinton camp are futile and should be dropped. This was no GOP witch hunt. It was a review directed by Clinton’s own successor, John Kerry, a fellow Democrat.

It’s bad enough that Clinton continually refuses news interviews on the topic, but to decline to talk with the inspector general charged with investigating her conduct, even as she is asking Americans to elevate her to this nation’s highest office, is unconscionable.

Clinton remains under FBI investigation, and she has said she will cooperate. But of course, there are consequences to refusing the FBI. It’s unclear why Clinton has dragged this out to the point that it is tainting her candidacy and feeding already rampant doubts about her trustworthiness. Clinton has been in government far too long not to know the need for properly preserving federal records.

Importantly, the audit also notes that the inspector general could find no evidence that Clinton received approval from the department’s legal adviser to use a private email server, even though Clinton has said she had permission. Instead, a director reportedly told State Department staff members that they were to “support the Secretary” and “never to speak of the Secretary’s personal email system again.”

There is only one way for Clinton to make this go away. She must cooperate quickly and completely and answer questions fully. With less than six months until Election Day, Clinton should want to dispel the cloud that hangs over her candidacy.

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