Clinton wants voters to take her word for it on emails

The staff of The World and Everything in It has profiled 22 possible 2016 presidential candidates in its “White House Wednesday” series. Now they take a look at who’s ahead and who’s making moves as the big campaign gets closer.

Politics and privacy. Hillary Clinton says there’s nothing to hide, but you’ll have to take her word for it. The former secretary of state broke her silence Tuesday over her exclusive use of a private email address for government business. Clinton said she turned over all work-related emails to the State Department. She added that she never discussed classified information via email and that she never deleted any work-related messages from her server, but she has no plans to allow an independent inspection of her server to verify those claims. Earlier in the day, a reporter asked State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki a pointed question: “Essentially, what you’re saying is that ignorance of the law is justifiable.” Psaki responded that Clinton had made an effort to follow the State Department email guidelines. But, as another reporter pointed out, making an effort is not the same as following them.

Likely presidential candidate Carly Fiorina tweeted, “In effect, Hillary Clinton told us to trust her. Nothing in her track record suggests we should do so.” Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., noted there are huge gaps of time in the emails Clinton provided. “Because Secretary Clinton has created more questions than answers, the Select Committee is left with no choice but to call her to appear at least twice,” said Gowdy, who chairs the House Select Committee on Benghazi.

Reporters at Clinton’s press conference Tuesday left out a few tough questions. She said her use of personal email didn’t violate any rules or laws, and she wasn’t really pressed on that. Nor did anyone ask about reports that she directed State Department employees not to use private email due to security concerns, even as she used private email exclusively. She said she didn’t want anyone looking at her server in part because it holds personal communications between her husband and her. But former President Bill Clinton’s spokesman has said his doesn’t use email. He’s supposedly only sent two emails in his entire life.

Farm aid. Nearly a dozen GOP White House hopefuls appeared Saturday at the Iowa Agriculture Summit in Des Moines. Conservative candidates attempted to square small-government ideals with popular sentiment in Iowa toward certain government programs, including mandates that fuels include a certain amount of biofuels, a big industry in Iowa.

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush would not sign off on a government mandate: “Whether it’s ethanol or any other alternative fuel, renewable or otherwise, the market’s ultimately gonna have to decide this.” Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said he supports biofuels and ethanol, but not the government forcing fuel companies to use them.

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who once called a renewable fuel standard a big government mandate, changed his tune in Des Moines. Walker said he now supports a federal ethanol mandate as part of what he called an all-of-the-above energy policy. Walker’s policy shift on renewable fuel might help him protect his early lead in recent Iowa caucus polls. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee supported government biofuel mandates, as did New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who also appeared at the event.

Presidential power rankings. The presidential power rankings are a weekly snapshot of where the race for GOP presidential nominee stands right now. Polling is the main factor in the changes we see in the rankings from one week to the next.

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