The fact is, though, Clinton and her campaign — with the initial help of the State Department — provided an incomplete and misleading account when asked a fundamental question about the email controversy. Clinton described the request for her emails as a routine record-keeping request that was made to several former secretaries, just as she has inaccurately described her unusual email arrangement as common because previous “secretaries of state” did the “same thing.” In fact only one, Colin Powell, used personal emails for government business, and he didn’t have a personal server.
Below are some of the statements made by Clinton, her office and her campaign about when and why the State Department requested her emails, beginning with the press conference she held on March 10, when she first addressed the New York Times story that said she exclusively used a personal email account to conduct official government business.
"Clinton, March 10: What happened in — sorry, I guess late summer, early — early fall, is that the State Department sent a letter to former secretaries of state, not just to me, asking for some assistance in providing any work-related emails that might be on the personal email."