WASHINGTON — Hillary Rodham Clinton is taking steps to move past lingering scrutiny of her email practices as secretary of state, bringing aboard a veteran Democratic communications adviser and filling out her team ahead of an expected presidential campaign launch in the coming weeks.
Jesse Ferguson, a former top aide with the House Democrats’ campaign committee, is expected to run the day-today press operation for Clinton’s campaign, three people familiar with the discussions said Thursday. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
Ferguson is to join departing White House communications director Jennifer Palmieri, who is expected to serve as the Clinton campaign’s communications director, along with several press aides who have worked in Democratic politics. The formation of the communications team was first reported by The New York Times.
Clinton has struggled against the disclosure that she used a private email account at the State Department connected to a server at her suburban New York home, raising questions of whether she fully met government transparency laws and policy requirements. She addressed reporters about the emails Tuesday after staying virtually silent about it for more than a week.
The former secretary of state is expected to formally begin her presidential campaign within a month, and her team is starting to piece together operations in early voting states such as Iowa and New Hampshire. She has signaled that she intends to run a vigorous primary campaign, even if the field remains small, to prepare for a general election against the Republican nominee.
Clinton has dominated the early discussions in the Democratic field. Potential challengers include Vice President Joe Biden, former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, former Sen. Jim Webb of Virginia and Vermont’s Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent.