State Department email report complicates Clinton’s message
Published 9:43 am Thursday, May 26, 2016
SALINAS, Calif. — Hillary Clinton is telling voters not to trust Donald Trump. But a new government report about her usage of a private email server as secretary of state is complicating that message.
The sharp rebuke from the State Department’s inspector general, which found Clinton did not seek legal approval for her homebrew email server, guarantees that the issue will remain alive and well for the likely Democratic presidential nominee for a second summer.
The new report comes at a particularly challenging time for the Clinton campaign, as she faces a two-front war against presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump and primary rival Bernie Sanders.
Already, Clinton faces questions about her trustworthiness, with months of polling showing voters give her low marks for integrity.
It’s a narrative that Trump has been eager to encourage. In the early weeks of his general election campaign he’s dubbed Clinton “Crooked Hillary” — a moniker intended to underscore questions about integrity.