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I haven't followed all the details of this saga, but my understanding is that this release is the result of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for the emails. The emails were vetted by the State Department, and only those that do not have security clearance restrictions are being released to the public.

Part of the controversy is the concern that classified information may not have been stored securely, but another concern is that Clinton may have deleted emails which legally must be preserved (the federal records act).

Compare with the 2013 IRS controversy, which could not be properly investigated because Lois Lerner's hard drive had been erased.

The FOIA request excludes sensitive info, so that's not at risk here. However, had she not used a private server, no one would care.