5th District Candidates Spar Over Clinton's Use Of Private Email Server

Rep. Scott Garrett has asked if his Democratic opponent, Josh Gottheimer, supports Hillary Clinton’s use of her private email server when she was secretary of state. 

Clinton, the presumptive presidential Democratic candidate, has received considerable criticism and backlash for using a private email server as secretary of state, according to reports.

“Now that Josh Gottheimer ‘family member’ Hillary Clinton has declared herself the Democratic Party nominee, constituents of the 5th District deserve to know where Mr. Gottheimer stands on Mrs. Clinton’s policies and priorities,” Garrett’s campaign said in a statement.

A State Department Audit concluded that Clinton violated federal records rules by using her server while holding the cabinet position, NBC News reported.

“I believe, as the State Department found, it was a poor decision to use her private email server. That said, Secretary Clinton has taken responsibility for her mistake,” Gottheimer, a Wyckoff resident, said in a statement. “The bottom line: Scott Garrett is doing what he always has done — follow the national Tea Party handbook and attack Hillary Clinton. I think it’s long-time that Scott Garrett focus on the real issues facing our district, like our crumbling roads and bridges or helping to lower our tax rates.”

Clinton all but accepted her party’s nomination, something she failed to do eight years ago when President Obama, who was just the junior senator from Illinois then, came onto the scene and received the party’s nomination. Fellow Democrat Bernie Sanders has signaled that his campaign is coming to an end, according to CNN.

Gottheimer was hired as a speechwriter for former President Bill Clinton, one of the youngest people to hold such a position. He helped draft two State of the Union Addresses, wrote extensively on the economy and served as a special assistant to President Clinton until the end of his administration, his website states.

The 5th District is made up of municipalities in Bergen, Sussex, Passaic, and Warren counties. In Bergen, the municipalities include: Fair Lawn, Franklin Lakes, Glen Rock, Hillsdale, Mahwah, New Milford, Oakland, Oradell, Paramus, Ramsey, Ridgewood, River Edge, Teaneck, Washington Township, Westwood, and Wyckoff.

Email: daniel.hubbard@patch.com. Sign up for Patch N.J. email newsletters here.

Image:  Josh Gottheimer and Hillary Clinton