Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush took a swipe at Hillary Clinton on Friday over her use of a private e-mail account as secretary of state, warning that it may have jeopardized national security.
“For security purposes, you need to be behind a firewall that recognizes the world for what it is, and it’s a dangerous world and security would mean that you couldn’t have a private server,” Bush told Radio Iowa in an interview. “It’s a little baffling, to be honest with you, that didn’t come up in Secretary Clinton’s thought process.”
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Clinton, who like Bush has yet to announce a presidential campaign, is still reeling from the news that she exclusively used a personal email account instead of a government one while serving in the Obama administration. The move ran counter to administration guidelines, and experts have raised concerns about record-keeping and security issues. The State Department has said there was no hard prohibition on the practice, however. The House Select Committee on Benghazi announced an investigation into the matter this week. Clinton has asked the State Department to release her emails to the public, a process that could take months.
Democrats have charged that, like Clinton, Bush himself used a private email address as governor in addition to a public account. Bush’s use of the email was well known, however — he gave it out routinely to constituents — and as a state executive instead of the nation’s top State Department official, posed fewer obvious national security risks if they fell into the wrong hands. Bush recently released thousands of his private account emails that related to state affairs and posted them online.
Bush is in Iowa for an agricultural summit hosted by GOP donor Bruce Rastetter, his first appearance in the state since announcing he was looking into a presidential run. The event will include most likely 2016 GOP prospects, including Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, Sen. Lindsey Graham, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum.
Benjy Sarlin