Hillary Clinton explains email use, defends husband on 'Meet the Press'

Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton was back on familiar ground Sunday, defending her use of a private email server while she was secretary of State as well as her husband, former president Bill Clinton, during a Sunday interview on NBC's Meet the Press. 

Asked about her written statement under oath that she had turned over all of her work-related State Department emails, only to have some turn up that were sent to then-commander of the U.S. Central Command David Petraeus, Clinton insisted that a "very thorough review process"  had been conducted by her lawyers.

When asked about the "discrepancy" between her statement that her email system began in March 2009 and the existence of emails between her and Petraeus from January of that year, Clinton said "there was a transition period" and added that she wasn't "focused" on her email account.

"I can't control the technical aspects of it," she said. "I'm not by any means a technical expert. I relied on people who were."

She was also asked about comments her husband made during a Saturday interview on CNN in which the 42nd president blamed the media and Republicans for the intense focus on his wife's use of a private email account while at the State Department.

"He does get upset when I get attacked," Clinton told NBC News' Chuck Todd.

But she's not blaming everything on the opposing party. "Of course, I take responsibility. It was my choice."

Still, the scrutiny is nothing new, she said, noting that during the 1990s she "was subjected to the same kind of barrage."

Clinton reiterated her claims that the use of personal email was for "convenience" and that the "vast majority" were to others in the government using official email addresses.

In response to Clinton's latest comments about her email use, Republican National Committee spokesman Michael Short said in a statement that "the facts are not on her side."

"Not only did Hillary Clinton withhold emails she certified were turned over, she continues to perpetuate falsehoods about being transparent when the server itself was an exercise in skirting public records laws," Short said.

Clinton also defended how she's changed some of her key positions, including on the Iraq war, gay marriage and the Keystone pipeline. Todd noted that one of her rivals for the Democratic nomination, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, has been far more consistent in what he supports.

"I am not someone who stakes out a position and holds it regardless of evidence," she said. Republicans, on the other hand, "are still believing in trickle-down economics," she added.