Democratic
donors unfazed by Hillary Clinton's use of private email
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[March 10, 2015]
By Michelle Conlin, Emily Flitter and Amanda Becker
(Reuters) - Top Democratic donors say they
are unfazed by the disclosure that Hillary Clinton conducted State
Department business on a personal email account, although several said
she could fend off Republican criticism by addressing the issue head-on
and announcing her candidacy for president.
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The presumed front-runner for the Democratic Party's 2016
presidential nomination had generally avoided controversy until the
email issue emerged. It has sparked Republican claims that she was
being secretive and could have posed a security threat.
“Do I think it will affect her fundraising? I doubt it,” said Miami
physician and Democratic bundler J.P. Austin. “She’s the
front-runner. She’s still the person to beat.”
Lena Kennedy, a Pasadena donor and bundler, added: “I just think
Hillary needs to address the questions, and then we need to move
on.”
Clinton is expected to address the issue publicly this week. Last
week, as the tempest over the emails grew, the former Secretary of
State announced on Twitter that she had asked the State Department
to release the 55,000 emails she had previously turned over as a
part of the Department’s request for records from all former
secretaries of state.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2015/Mar/10/images/ads/current/stacy_sda_121014.png) On Monday, Reuters interviewed 13, randomly selected political
activists who are among the Democratic Party’s top donors and
bundlers - donors who gather other donations together to amplify the
funding impact. Half were avowed Clinton supporters, two hope
Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren would run, and the remainder
were undecided.
Although they acknowledged the emails could potentially contain
surprises, none felt Clinton's reputation would be damaged by what
has been disclosed so far.
Democratic donors told Reuters their view of Clinton had not been
affected. Nearly all said that although they preferred a contested
primary because it strengthens the eventual victor, they still
believed Clinton would ultimately secure the Democratic presidential
nomination for 2016.
Most also said it was unlikely that a strong enough challenger would
emerge who could siphon away a significant amount of cash from
Clinton.
“I think the big takeaway from my conversations has been a general
feeling amongst the network of which I’m a part that she should
hurry up and announce,” said Allan Berliant, a Cincinnati bundler
who has been talking with potential donors.
Many donors pointed out that the election is still a year and a half
away and that the presumed front-runners have yet to officially
declare their candidacies.
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“I think it’s a dumb issue,” Gerald Acker, a Michigan lawyer who was
among President Barack Obama’s most prolific bundlers in 2012, said
of the email concerns. “Colin Powell did the exact same thing.
Former Secretary of State Colin Powell, who also had a private email
account during his tenure, said in a television interview Sunday
that he had not retained any of his records so he could not hand
them over. Other presidential hopefuls, such as Republicans Jeb Bush
and Scott Walker, also had private email accounts while holding
elected office, although neither position was at the federal level.
Republicans have accused Clinton of using her personal email account
to avoid the archiving of her communications on government servers.
They also contend the use of a non-government account potentially
have posed a security risk by leaving her communications more
vulnerable to hacking.
The Obama White House has made it clear that its guidance to
officials was to use government email addresses, not personal ones,
for government business. The White House said on Monday that Obama
had received emails from Clinton's personal email address over
several years but he was not aware of how the server had been set
up.
(Editing by Ken Wills)
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
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