Clinton Move To Hand Over Private Server May Damage Presidential Prospects

Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign has hardly been smooth. But the former U.S. secretary of state’s decision to hand over a private server to the U.S. Department of Justice may make her journey even more difficult.

An independent government watchdog alleged that Clinton had at least a couple of “top secret” emails on an unsecured network. A few hours after that, Clinton instructed her staff to hand over the server and a pen drive to investigators.

“She pledged to cooperate with the government’s security inquiry, and if there are more questions, we will continue to address them,” the Guardian quoted spokesman Nick Merrill as saying. “In the meantime, her team has worked with the State Department to ensure her emails are stored in a safe and secure manner.”

Merrill confirmed that Clinton had asked her team to hand over to Justice the email server used during her tenure as the nation's top diplomat [2009-13]. He also confirmed that a pen drive with copies of her emails had been handed over to the State Department, Politico reported.

Washington Post reported that Clinton’s move could only damage her presidential campaign. Clinton has been firm in her position that she is not going to hand over her private server to a third party. Even her lawyer David Kendall wrote to a congressional committee that there was no logic in supporting a third-party investigation.

Clinton’s Tuesday decision was a U-turn from her previous stance. It may further deteriorate the “trust deficit” she apparently has with the public. It would be further damaging if it is proven that Clinton received classified information in her email after repeatedly claiming she had not.