For Hillary, Questions Still Swirl

Meanwhile, new questions arose with Clinton's disclosure that half the 60,000 emails were determined to be personal, were not turned over to the State Department, and would not be made available, as some have suggested, for any third-party review.

I might believe that Clinton and her lawyers abided by the rules and even erred on the side of determining that emails were official and needed to be turned over. As Clinton noted Tuesday, even if she had used a .gov address, she would have been empowered to make a similar determination to exclude private correspondence.

Congressional Republicans have no incentive to be quite so charitable. Brace yourself for their howls of outrage.

My reaction to this episode is a combination of exasperation, sadness and a strong sense of deja vu. It's exasperating because it's all so unnecessary. Accepting Clinton's asserted reason for relying on private email, why does she get to play by different rules than other senior government officials who juggle two devices? Why, understanding what a big target she is, knowing that her records were being sought, weren't she and her aides more careful about compliance?

It's sad because Clinton, in my estimation, is such a strong presidential candidate -- smart, disciplined, hardworking, experienced, sober-minded.

As to the deja vu, I was in the State Dining Room almost 21 years ago when Clinton, in a demure pink sweater set, held a marathon press conference to handle questions about her commodities trading, Whitewater investment and assorted other matters.

"One of the things that I regret most," Clinton said then, is that "my sense of privacy ... led me to perhaps be less understanding than I needed to of both the press and the public's interest, as well as right, to know things about my husband and me. ... I've always believed in a zone of privacy. And I told a friend the other day that I feel after resisting for a long time I've been rezoned."

Back then, Clinton chalked up her difficulties to "our inexperience in Washington."

What's the excuse now?

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Ruth Marcus' email address is ruthmarcus@washpost.com.