Bobby Jindal mocks Hillary Clinton over email saga

Louisiana's Indian-American governor Bobby Jindal and other Republican presidential candidates have pounced upon Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton as her email saga took a new turn.

Amid reports that Clinton's use of a private email server during her time as secretary of state was under investigation, Jindal Wednesday mocked Hillary Clinton with a prison joke, saying, "Orange really is the new black."

The long shot presidential candidate's reference to "Orange Is the New Black", an American comedy-drama series about life in a women's prison, came at a campaign stop in Iowa, the first nominating state.

Jindal asked the crowd how many of them would face prosecution if they handled classified information the same way as Clinton.

"Breaking news: Hillary Clinton's emails are being investigated by the FBI. Our nation's top secrets could be on that server. Question for service members: If you had been reckless with the nation's secrets, what would have happened to you?" Jindal asked.

"Why should rules be different for Clinton? I'm tired of the political class thinking they're on higher ground," he added.

Suggesting that Clinton is one email away from going to prison, Jindal said she should start taking advice from her pal Martha Stewart, who served time behind bars. "Orange really is the new black," he joked.

A Monmouth University poll released Wednesday found that a slight majority of voters believe Clinton's emails should be the subject of a criminal investigation.

On the campaign trail in Iowa Wednesday, Jindal also observed that the actions of both Clinton and current Secretary of State John Kerry have "surrendered our national security."

Jindal's comments came as Kerry's acknowledged to CBS News after reports that the Pentagon's Joint Staff email had been breached that "it is very likely" that China and Russia are reading his emails.

According to a press release from Jindal's campaign, he said: "The gross negligence of this administration is breathtaking. Obama's first Secretary of State was keeping Top Secret emails on her home server and his second can't keep his emails from being read by foreign governments."

Stating that the nation's top officials are admitting to "ineptitude" and "incompetence," Jindal added, "Hillary Clinton and John Kerry need to explain why they think that they can surrender our national security to our enemies and not face any consequences."

The Clinton campaign hit back calling Republicans hypocrites for making a scandal out of her emails when Republican presidential candidates Bobby Jindal, Scott Walker, Jeb Bush and Rick Perry also used private email.

Clinton Communications Director Jennifer Palmieri said, "Many of the Republican candidates for president have done the same things for which they're now criticising Hillary.

"As governor, Jeb Bush owned his own private server and his staff decided which emails he turned over as work-related from his private account," he said.

"Bobby Jindal went a step further, using private email to communicate with his immediate staff but refusing to release his work-related emails," Palmieri said.

(Arun Kumar can be contacted at arun.kumar@ians.in)