Clinton says 'sorry' in email controversy

Clinton said in an interview with ABC News on Tuesday that she was "sorry" and "took responsibility" for using a personal email account run on a private server to carry out government affairs during her time in office as secretary of state from 2009 to 2013.

"As I look back at it now, even though it was allowed, I should have used two accounts, one for personal emails, one for work-related emails," Clinton said.

She later repeated the apology in a late-night posting on Facebook.

Up until now, Clinton had declined to say she was sorry, telling The Associated Press just on Monday that she didn't have to apologize because "what I did was allowed."

Before that, she had apologized only for the "confusion" her actions might have caused.

Falling ratings

The uproar over Clinton's use of a private email account instead of the official government email system while in office as the US' top diplomat has dented the popularity of the Democratic frontrunner, with a Gallup poll released on Friday showing that just 41 percent of respondents viewed her favorably - the lowest level since 1992.

Critics, particularly among Republicans, have raised questions about whether Clinton had inappropriately sent and received highly sensitive material during her tenure. They have also voiced concern that security measures on her private account might have been inadequate to block hackers.

Clinton herself maintains that she neither sent nor received any information that was classified at the time, though much of it has been categorized as such retroactively.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is examining whether government secrets have been compromised by Clinton's practice.

The Department of State is publicly releasing batches of the more than 30,000 official emails that Clinton turned over to it in late 2014.

Defense on technicalities

Present rules stipulate that government officials may use personal email accounts only if copies of all messages are sent to their official account, but those rules were not in force while Clinton was in office - something she has emphasized in her defense.

However, guidelines to employees were in place making clear that government email should be used for official business.

Clinton's fall in popularity is creating potential openings for other contenders for the Democratic nomination, with speculation now rife that Vice President Joe Biden might make a late entry into the contest.

However, Clinton on Tuesday expressed confidence that she can weather the controversy.

"I can survive it because I think I'm running to be president to do what the country needs done," she told ABC.

tj/jil (AP, AFP)