The U.S. State Department has proposed releasing private emails from U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in early 2016.
The State Department made the proposal late Monday, in response to a lawsuit filed under the Freedom of Information Act.
Clinton's emails became the subject of controversy earlier this year when it was revealed that during her term as Secretary of State, which ran from 2009 to 2013, she conducted much of her communications over a private email account rather than using a State Department account.
The State Department says it has some 55,000 pages of emails from Clinton's private account to prepare for release on its website, and that a review of the emails will take until the end of the year. The proposed release date is January 15, 2016.
Clinton, considered the frontrunner to win the Democratic Party's presidential nomination next year, has said she wants the emails released as soon as possible.
A January 2016 release date would come just before the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary, both crucial contests for U.S. presidential contenders.
