Hillary Clinton Emails: Former Secretary of State Addresses Situation

NEW YORK -- Addressing the ongoing email controversy for the first time, Hillary Clinton said today that she used a private account out of "convenience" and later went through a "thorough process" to deliver her work-related messages to the State Department.

"I opted for convenience ... because I thought it would be easier to carry one device," she told reporters at the United Nations in New York.

She said that she "chose not to keep" personal, private emails that had to do with planning her daughter Chelsea Clinton's wedding, her mother's funeral and yoga routines.

Clinton also talked about the private server that was used to host her email domain, saying that the system was set up for her husband and his post-presidential office that "proved to be effective and secure."

She also confirmed earlier reports that the server was based out of the former first couple's home in Chappaqua, New York.

"There were no security breaches," she added.

Clinton maintained that she "fully complied with every rule I was governed by." She did not directly address a 2005 update in the Foreign Affairs Manual codified by the State Department which ruled that employees could only use private email accounts for official business if they turned those emails over to be entered into government computers. That ruling also forbade State Department employees from including "sensitive but unclassified" information on private email, except for some very narrow exceptions. She did, however, note that she never sent classified information via email.

Today's press conference came after the State Department confirmed earlier today that they will be publishing the 55,000 emails that Clinton handed over to them after they are reviewed. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the documents will be available online on a government website.

She said that the release will follow Freedom of Information Act guidelines, meaning that any redacted content will have an explanation about why it was removed.

Prior to today, Clinton's only comment to date about the email scandal came via Twitter when she noted that she has asked the State Department to release her email, though that process is expected to take months.

It was publicly reported last week that Clinton, who is widely seen as the likely Democratic presidential nominee, used a private server and email domain during her tenure as Secretary of State rather than using the government's email system.

ABC News' Devin Dwyer and Liz Kreutz contributed to this report.