Dems fret over Clinton emails
New polls indicate inquiry is taking toll on campaign
WASHINGTON — Hillary Rodham Clinton is facing fresh worries among elected Democrats about her use of a private email account while serving as secretary of state, as new polls signal that the inquiry is taking a toll on her presidential campaign.
The Democratic frontrunner’s campaign has taken steps to defend her against allegations she may have put classified information at risk by using a private email account and server, arguing she never sent or received material considered classified at the time.
Democratic lawmakers said Clinton’s campaign has not adequately explained the complicated nature of the email review and panned some of her attempts to use humor to talk about the probe.
Clinton joked at a Democratic dinner in Iowa last week that she liked the social media platform Snapchat because the messages disappear by themselves. And she shrugged off questions about her server being wiped clean, asking facetiously in Nevada, “Like a cloth or something?”
“I don’t think the campaign has handled it very well,” Florida Sen. Bill Nelson told The Associated Press on Thursday. “I think the advice to her of making a joke out of it — I think that was not good advice.”
Nelson said if Clinton had received information that should have been labeled classified or top secret, the person sending the email would bear the responsibility of making that clear on the email. “If she is receiving something on a private email account and it has no designation, then how would she know that it is classified?” he asked.
Democratic California Gov. Jerry Brown compared the controversy to a “vampire” in an interview Friday with NBC News’ “Meet the Press,” saying it has “some kind of dark energy that gets everybody excited.”
“She’s going to have to find a stake and put it right through the heart of these emails in some way,” Brown said.
Clinton holds a wide but narrowing lead in the Democratic field against Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who has picked up ground on her in New Hampshire and Iowa. Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley has pitched himself as a fresh face and has tried to gain traction.
While Clinton holds significant advantages in money and support among Democrats, polls released Thursday by Quinnipiac University in Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania — three general election battleground states — found that only about one- third of respondents thought she was honest and trustworthy.