Obama: Clinton made mistake, didn’t harm national security

President Obama called Hillary Rodham Clinton’s use of a private e-mail server “a mistake” and said she should come clean about the scandal to the American public.

He directed additional questions to the candidate.

A few of Clinton’s critics have accused the Obama administration of holding her to a double standard, saying it has for years pursued aggressive prosecution of other government staffers and officials caught with classified materials on their private computers. The Federal Bureau of Investigation, which is investigating Clinton’s email system, seized her server in August after the Intelligence Community’s inspector general found that two “top secret” emails traversed the device when Clinton was secretary of state.

The president’s relaxed defense boosted Clinton’s arguments that she did not run afoul of the law, even if her disclosures of information were slow, as the president said they were.

The issue has become a major distraction for Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign and a flashpoint with Republicans.

Obama turned down opportunities from interviewer Steve Kroft on 60 Minutes to defend Clinton, instead describing the controversy as “legitimate”. A record 53 percent of registered voters have an unfavorable view of the former secretary, and 61 percent said she is not honest and trustworthy, the CBS poll found.

After months of insisting that her use of the server did not violate State Department policy, Clinton said last month on an interview with ABC News that it was “a mistake” and, “I’m sorry about that”. He is, you know, the classic reality-TV character and at this early stages it’s not surprising that he’s gotten a lot of attention. He said her evident reluctance to be transparent as the controversy escalated this spring served to complicate her bid for the White House, a fact she now concedes.

The change also reflects growing concern in Mr Obama’s administration that Russia’s intervention has complicated the Syrian battlefield and given new life to President Bashar Assad.

When the president was asked if he believed he could win a third term if he were allowed to run again, he had a simple reply: “Yes”.