Hillary Clinton discussing her emails at the UN. AP A defiant Hillary Clinton denied any wrongdoing when she took a series of questions from reporters on Tuesday about the controversy over her use of a personal email address during her time at the State Department.

The press conference took place at the UN, where Clinton was participating in the UN Commission on the Status of Women. Clinton, who is widely considered the Democratic front-runner in the 2016 presidential race, attributed her use of a private email address to "convenience" and a desire to have her official and personal messages on a single device.

"I opted for convenience to use my personal email account, which was allowed by the State Department, because I thought it would be easier to carry just one device for my work and for my personal emails instead of two. Looking back, it would have been better if I simply used a second email account," she said. "But at the time, this didn't seem like an issue."

The press conference was announced a few hours before it began. Over a hundred reporters, many of whom spent hours obtaining last-minute UN press credentials, crowded a stakeout area outside the Security Council chambers in order to cover the event.

Before Clinton took the stage, UN staffers removed a set of flags that flanked the podium where she spoke. Business Insider repeatedly asked one of the staffers if they were directed to remove the flags by Clinton's team. The staffer, who was about two feet away, answered by saying they couldn't hear the question while smiling broadly.

When Clinton arrived, she began by making brief statements on women's rights, the US nuclear negotiations with Iran, and the emails. Once she was finished, her spokesman, Nick Merrill, handpicked which reporters got to ask questions throughout the press conference. Journalists who attempted to get their questions in outside of this process were ignored.

In her initial statement about the controversy, Clinton stressed her aides turned over all of her work-related messages in response to a recent request from the State Department. She also noted she took what she called the "unprecedented" step of asking the department to make the messages public. However, Clinton said she would not be releasing "private personal emails."

"We went through a thorough process to identify all my work-related emails and deliver them to the State Department," Clinton said. "At the end, I chose not to keep my private personal emails, emails about planning Chelsea's wedding, or my mother's funeral arrangements, condolence notes to friends, as well as yoga routines, family vacations, the other things you typically find in inboxes. No one wants their personal emails made public, and I think most people understand that and respect that privacy."

According to The New York Times report that sparked the controversy last week, Clinton's use of a personal email may have violated federal regulations. Questions have also been raised about the fact her aides reviewed which messages to send to the State department, which has described its request for the messages as part of a routine recordkeeping effort.

A Republican House committee dedicated to investigating the 2012 terrorist attack on the US diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, issued a subpoena last week in an effort to find out more about Clinton's email use. Republicans have been critical of Clinton's handling of the attack, and the committee has long sought to obtain her messages.

At the press conference, the very first person called on praised Clinton's work on behalf of women's rights and asked if the email controversy was sexist.

"If you were a man today, would all this fuss be being made?" he asked.

She suggested she would leave that question for others to answer.

Subsequent questions were much more aggressive. Clinton was repeatedly pressed on her reasoning for using a private address and quizzed about the security of her account. Clinton insisted her personal email server was quite secure, despite some reports that have suggested otherwise.

"The system we used was set up for President Clinton's office," she said. "It had numerous safeguards. It was on property guarded by the Secret Service and there were no security breaches. I think that the use of that server which started by my husband certainly proved to be effective and secure."

Clinton further said she never emailed state secrets so others, so no crucial information was left vulnerable to hackers.

"I did not email any classified material to anyone on my email. There is no classified material. So I'm certainly well aware of the classification requirements and did not send classified material," she said.

Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Win McNamee/Getty

Clinton also repeatedly denied breaking federal regulations with her personal email account and defended the process her team employed to decide which emails to turn over.

"I have absolute confidence that everything that could be in any way connected to work is now in the possession of the State Department," Clinton said. "And I have to add, even if I had two devices, which is obviously permitted, many people do that, you would still have to put the responsibility where it belongs, which is on the official."

Clinton also said she went out of her way to include email government employees on their government email accounts in the "vast majority" of her official exchanges, which she said ensured the messages were recorded.

"The laws and regulations in effect when I was secretary of state allowed me to use my email for work. That is undisputed. Secondly, under the Federal Records Act, records are defined as recorded information, regardless of its form or characteristics," Clinton said. "And in meeting the record keeping obligation, it was my practice to email government officials on their state … accounts so the emails were immediately captured and preserved."

Clinton said she would not hand over her server to an independent investigator, as some Republicans have called for. She attributed her reluctance to do this to the fact that her "personal communications" were also on the server.

"The server contains personal communications from my husband and me," Clinton said. "And I believe I have met all of my responsibilities and the server will remain private."

In total, the press conference lasted about 20 minutes and Clinton took less than ten questions before leaving.

This story was last updated at 4:45 p.m.