After nearly a month of not taking questions from the press, Hillary Clinton finally opened up.
Clinton told reporters in Iowa on Tuesday that she hoped the State Department would release emails as soon as possible, but added that the decision was not up to her.
“I have said repeatedly I want those emails out, nobody has a bigger interest in getting them released than I do,” she said to a large scrum of journalists.
“I respect the State Department, they have their process that they do for everybody, not just for me, but anything that they might do to expedite that process I heartily support,” she said.
The State Department plans to wait until January 2016 to release Clinton’s emails, according to documents obtained by Vice News.
Clinton’s remarks came after a small-business roundtable in Iowa, during which a reporter interrupted her. She responded she would think about taking questions from the press, then continued taking questions from audience members for several more minutes.
Clinton also responded to a question about her correspondence with longtime friend and aide Sidney Blumenthal during her time at the State Department.
The New York Times reported on Monday that House Benghazi Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy (R-SC) plans to subpoena Blumenthal because his memos to Clinton at that time on Libya seemed to cross the line between politics, the Clinton Foundation, and State Department business.
Asked whether the correspondence, which she routinely passed on to others at the State Department, according to the Times, was appropriate and if the American people could expect the same involvement of longtime Clinton friends if she becomes president, Clinton laughed.
“I have many, many old friends,” she said, a hint of an edge to her voice. “I always think that it’s important when you get into politics to have friends you had before you were in politics and to understand what’s on their minds.”
Of Blumenthal, she said, “He’s been a friend of mine for a long time, he sent me unsolicited emails which I passed on in some instances.”
She then, somewhat oddly, noted it was important to retain the old friends so you don’t get caught in “a bubble” and avoid only talking to “a certain small group of people.”
“That’s just part of the give and take when you are in the public eye,” she said.
“When you are in an official position I think you do have to work to make sure you aren’t caught in a bubble and you only hear from a certain small group of people, and I’m going to keep talking to my old friends, whoever they are.”
Because avoiding the bubble and having a vast network of close friends are two things closely associated with the Clintons. Just like their good relations with the press.
