Hillary Clinton has been hammered time and time again for the scandal which erupted after it emerged that she used her personal email account for government business . But she made light of the scandal at a gathering of reports on Monday night , looking forward to 'new beginnings ' ... including a new address . Clinton , who is expected to declare her bid for president in the coming weeks , even promised 'no more secrecy ' after weeks of being pressed to turn over State Department emails she had hitherto kept to herself . Joker : Hillary Clinton showed her lighter side , joking with reporters about her recent email scandal , and promising 'no more secrecy ' . She is pictured about at a speech earlier on Monday . The former Secretary of State and First Lady , who was speaking at the awards ceremony for a political journalism prize , admitted it was odd for her to willingly put herself in the way of the press - but tried to spin the occasion as a fresh start . She said : ' I am well aware that some of you may be a little surprised to see me here tonight . You know my relationship with the press has been at times , shall we say , complicated . ' ' ... But I am all about new beginnings . A new grandchild , another new hairstyle , a new email account – why not a new relationship with the press ? 'So here goes . No more secrecy . No more zone of privacy - after all , what good does that do me . ' Prank : Clinton joked that everyone at the prize-giving in Washington , D.C. , had a non-disclosure agreement under their seat . However , she could n't help but indulge her secretive side , even in jest , by pretending the guests would all be stopped from talking about the event with a legal gagging order . She said : 'But first of all , before I go any further , if you look under your chairs , you ’ ll find a simple non-disclosure agreement . My attorneys drew it up . Old habits ... last . ' She was speaking at a ceremony held for the Toner Prize for Excellence in Political Reporting , which is awarded by Syracuse University . The event in D.C. honors Robin Toner , a political reporter who died in 2008 , but interviewed Clinton several times in the preceding decades . Dan Balz , a Washington Post reporter , won the $ 5,000 prize this year . The event could be one of Clinton 's last public appearances before announcing her much-anticipated candidacy for president in 2016 . At one point in the her remarks at the event she seemed to make a joke about her longstanding position that she is still considering whether to run or not . It came on the day that Ted Cruz became the first to throw his hat into the ring and announce himself as the first official candidate in the presidential election . Other Republicans , including Jeb Bush , Scott Walker and Rand Paul are expected to follow suit in the coming weeks .
Former Secretary of State made light of accusations over her emails . Has been castigated for using personal account for government business . Spoke tonight and hoped for 'new beginnings ' - and a new account . Appeared at journalism prize-giving ceremony in Washington , D.C . Promised transparency - then joked everyone had to sign a gagging order .