Hillary Clinton, the expected Democratic front runner for the 2016 presidential election, got loud cheers at a speech in Washington, DC last night when she played to suggestions that she will officially run for the White House.

"Don't you want to see more women running for school boards who will fight for better schools for kids? Don't you want to see more women running for mayor and governor who will put our families first? Don't you want to see more women running for Congress who will follow in the footsteps for Barbara Mikulski and champion equal pay and equal opportunity? And I guess it's only fair to say, don't you someday want to see a woman president of the United States of America?" she said.

She made no reference to allegations that she inappropriately used her personal email for work while secretary of state when she delivered the 30-minute speech at a gala dinner in Washington for Emily's List, a political organisation that helps elect Democratic women who support access to abortion.

The Clinton camp quickly sought to discredit a New York Times report published late Monday that said her exclusive use of a personal email account from 2009 through 2013 and a lack of email preservation may have run afoul of the Federal Records Act.

The report got wide play, largely because it fuels a political narrative from Republicans that Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, are obsessed with secrecy and seek to play by a different set of rules.

Clinton spokesman Nick Merrill, however, said Clinton had followed both the "letter and spirit of the rules" while she was secretary of state.