In Clinton's Benghazi Emails, No Cover-Up, but Worry

The New York Times is offering a look into Hillary Clinton's emails as secretary of state—though that glimpse comes via anonymous officials rather than the 300 or so Benghazi-related emails she turned over to the House last month. Despite allegations by some Republicans, there's no indication in the emails that Clinton called on US forces to "stand down" during the Benghazi attack, nor is there any sign that the Obama administration worked to hide its response, officials tell the Times. Clinton's team does, however, come across as glad she wasn't the one to present the administration's original take on the cause of the attacks—a much-criticized job that went to then-UN ambassador Susan Rice. "You never said ‘spontaneous’ or characterized (the attackers') motivations," one Clinton aide wrote to her. And after her emotional testimony before the Senate, she emailed a top aide: "Did we survive the day?"

The emails do add fuel to concerns about Clinton's use of private email, however. The former secretary of state has said that the "vast majority of my work emails went to government employees at their government addresses," meaning they'd be preserved, BuzzFeed reports—but in some of the exchanges revealed, Clinton sends her communications to their private email addresses, the Times notes. Republican Rep. Trey Gowdy, head of the House Select Committee on Benghazi, has given Clinton until Friday to reply to a subpoena regarding the Benghazi emails, Politico reports. Meanwhile, all this appears to have hurt her poll numbers. (More Hillary Clinton stories.)