Clinton has undone business as she hits the campaign trail

Hillary Clinton surprised no one with her announcement Sunday that she’s running for president in 2016. But what is surprising is that Democrat Clinton, former secretary of state, U.S. senator from New York and former first lady, launched her campaign before resolving an issue that will remain a dark cloud over her candidacy and her tenure in government.

Indeed, to the Republican Party and the GOP presidential candidates, the issue is a political gift that will keep on giving.

It all has to do with Clinton’s refusal to turn over for independent review her private email server so a determination can be made as to the records that pertain to her official duties as secretary of state and those that are personal.

After the New York Times revealed that Clinton used a private email account rather than a State Department account for government business, the former first lady admitted that she did so — for convenience. She did not want to carry around two gadgets, she said.

As for her refusal to turn over the server to the inspector general of the State Department or some neutral party so an inventory can be conducted Clinton, who has had the inside track to the Democratic Party nomination for quite some time, points out that she has turned over 55,000 pages of emails relating to her official duties. She has urged the State Department to make them public.

Some of the emails have been released to the House committee investigating the terrorist attack on the American consulate outpost in Benghazi, Libya, that resulted in the death of Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Amercians.

But Republicans in Congress and the GOP candidates for president are not satisfied. And neither are the American people. Polls show that the public’s suspicion that she’s hiding something is getting stronger as each day passes without the issue being resolved.

We disagree with the Republicans who insist that the release of the private email server is demanded because Clinton has yet to fully explain why the American outpost in Benghazi was not adequately secured, and why Ambassador Stevens and members of his staff were not rescued after the attack began.

Several investigations by congressional committees have found no responsibility on the part of the then secretary of state and no attempt at a cover up.

Independent look-see

That said, we do believe that enough questions have been raised about Clinton’s use of a private email account to warrant an independent look-see.

The wife of former President Bill Clinton, whose tenure was marred by the Monica Lewinsky affair, must know that the Republicans are going to keep pounding away at the fact that her reaction to the email controversy is no different than that of her husband’s when reports of his involvement with White House intern Lewinsky became public.

Insisting, as Mrs. Clinton has done, that her private emails are nobody’s business but hers may appease her supporters, but Americans who are undecided about the 2016 presidential race may wonder if she’s to be trusted.

We aren’t calling for all the messages to be made public but we do believe an independent review is justified.

If she’s not comfortable with the inspector general of the State Department going through the server, she should consider our previous suggestion of having two individuals from the private sector perform the task: one named by her, and the other by the Republican leadership in Congress.