Clinton downplays email controversy as all political

With Iowa Democrat Tom Harkin at her side as a validator, Hillary Clinton said Saturday in Iowa that the email controversy surrounding her is all political, it's not a matter that interests voters, and it won't be a shadow that hurts her in the general election.

"We'll see how this all plays out, but it's not anything that people talk to me about as I travel around the country," the Democratic presidential candidate told reporters she'd gathered for a news conference at the Iowa State Fair on Saturday.

"It is never raised in my town halls. It is never raised in my other meetings with people," she said.

Clinton repeatedly stressed that none of the emails that passed through her private server were classified — or at least, none was "marked" classified, she said.

"This is not about me," she said. "I never sent classified material on my email, and I never received any that was marked classified. I'm going to let whatever this inquiry is go forward and we'll await the outcome of it."

For months, Clinton has been defending her decision to use a private email server to conduct public business when she was U.S. secretary of state. The FBI has taken possession of the server as part of the U.S. Department of Justice's probe into the handling of classified information. The inspector general recently sifted through 40 random emails and discovered four contained classified information and two were top secret and should have been marked classified.

A reporter told Clinton that some Iowa Democrats have said they're worried the email scandal will damage her chances of winning the general election, and asked if that's a concern for her.

"No, it's not," she said. "This is the usual partisanization, which I may have just made up a word, of everything that goes on all the time."

In a Des Moines Register/Bloomberg Politics Iowa Poll in late May, 78 percent of likely Iowa caucusgoers said it didn't bother them that Clinton kept a private email server and deleted emails she did not consider related to her service as secretary of state. But 41 percent said they thought the issue would hurt her in the general election.

Harkin, a retired 30-year U.S. senator, told reporters he decided to endorse Clinton over the other Democratic contenders, including Vermont U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, because Clinton is well respected around the world and has the depth of experience to be president.

Harkin said he thinks Clinton's campaign is doing everything right, and that she's doing better in her second presidential campaign at being "personally involved."

"I believe in the caucuses Hillary is going to come out way on top," he said.