--- title: Did Obama Know About Clinton Emails? President Says He Didn't description: Obama didn't know about Hillary Clinton's use of a private email address for official business, the President said Saturday. canonical: https://time.com/3736534/obama-clinton-emails/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-03-08T14:46:07.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:41:26.481Z article:section: Politics og:title: Did Obama Know About Clinton Emails? President Says He Didn't og:description: Obama didn't know about Hillary Clinton's use of a private email address for official business, the President said Saturday. og:url: https://time.com/3736534/obama-clinton-emails/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt12d4f977a51e24ad/6987820c55a8592edca86230/hillary-clinton-emails.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: Hilllary Clinton Speaks at Emily's List Conference og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Did Obama Know About Clinton Emails? President Says He Didn't twitter:description: Obama didn't know about Hillary Clinton's use of a private email address for official business, the President said Saturday. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt12d4f977a51e24ad/6987820c55a8592edca86230/hillary-clinton-emails.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Obama Says He Learned About Clinton Emails When Everyone Else Did > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. Brief goes beyond the Washington headlines to explain the politics, personalities and power dynamics shaping what happens next. 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Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: Know Right Now: Clinton's Private Emails [Watch (HLS stream): Know Right Now: Clinton's Private Emails](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/JMnBWhXy.m3u8) (1:05)  _Published 2015-03-05. Hillary Clinton recently came under fire for using a private server for her email during her time as Secretary of State_  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Mar 8, 2015 2:46 PM UTC  Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaks at the the 30th Anniversary National Conference of Emily's List in Washington on March 3, 2015. Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaks at the the 30th Anniversary National Conference of Emily's List in Washington on March 3, 2015.Brooks Kraft—Corbis  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Mar 8, 2015 2:46 PM UTC President Barack Obama didn’t know about former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email address for official business before a Monday New York _Times_ [report](http://time.com/3729583/hillary-clinton-personal-email-secretary-of-state/), the President said Saturday. Asked [by CBS News](http://www.cbsnews.com/news/obama-weighs-in-hillary-clinton-private-emails/) when he had learned of Clinton’s email setup, Obama replied, “The same time everybody else learned it through news reports.” Clinton sent emails for both business and personal purposes from an address on a private server throughout the four years she was U.S. Secretary of State, the _Times_ reported last week. She has since turned over tens of thousands of emails to be archived as public record. The White House [said Friday](http://time.com/3735808/hillary-clinton-emails-other-cabinet-officials/) that all current Cabinet members now use official email addresses for business. “The policy of my Administration is to encourage transparency, which is why my emails, the BlackBerry I carry around, all those records are available and archived,” Obama told CBS. “I’m glad that Hillary’s instructed that those emails about official business need to be disclosed.” Former President Bill Clinton declined to address the issue when asked at an event in Miami, according to a TIME reporter there: > [](https://twitter.com/Sam%5FFrizell/status/574576238901264384) \[[_CBS_](http://www.cbsnews.com/news/obama-weighs-in-hillary-clinton-private-emails/)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3736534/obama-clinton-emails/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3736534/obama-clinton-emails/"},"headline":"Obama Says He Learned About Clinton Emails When Everyone Else Did","datePublished":"2015-03-08T14:46:07.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:41:26.481Z","description":"President says he had no idea about Hillary's email setup until he heard it on the news","url":"https://time.com/3736534/obama-clinton-emails/","keywords":["White House","2016 Election","Barack Obama","Obama","2016","Clinton"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt12d4f977a51e24ad/6987820c55a8592edca86230/hillary-clinton-emails.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt12d4f977a51e24ad/6987820c55a8592edca86230/hillary-clinton-emails.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Hilllary Clinton Speaks at Emily's List Conference","caption":"Hilllary Clinton Speaks at Emily's List Conference","creditText":"Brooks Kraft—Corbis","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3736534/obama-clinton-emails/","name":"Obama Says He Learned About Clinton Emails When Everyone Else Did"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Know Right Now: Clinton's Private Emails","description":"Hillary Clinton recently came under fire for using a private server for her email during her time as Secretary of State","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/JMnBWhXy/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-03-05T18:45:32.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/JMnBWhXy.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3736534/obama-clinton-emails/","duration":"PT1M5S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3736534/obama-clinton-emails/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```