Hillary Clinton has opened up about her 2016 election loss to US President Donald Trump, claiming that without WikiLeaks and FBI Director James Comey, she would have won the presidency.

Speaking at the Women for Women event on Tuesday (2 May), the former Democratic candidate first said she took "absolute personal responsibility", and did not blame her staff for the loss.

Clinton also made a number of pointed comments towards Russian President Vladimir Putin when discussing the Kremlin's alleged role in hacking the Democratic National Committee and the subsequent release of emails.

"Did we make mistakes? Of course we did. Did I make mistakes? Oh my gosh, yes." Clinton said, adding: "The reason why I believe we lost were the intervening events in the last ten days."

Clinton focused particularly on a much criticised letter sent by FBI Director James Comey that announced a re-investigation of her campaign, just ten days before the election, but later found no evidence of wrong-doing.

This also coincided with the release of a final batch of emails hacked from the Democratic National Committee on the website WikiLeaks.

Hillary Clinton at Women for Women forum
Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton takes part in the Women for Women International Luncheon in New York, U.S. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

US intelligence agencies have implicated Putin and the Russian government in the hacking, accusing them of attempting to influence the election in Trump's favour. On Putin, Clinton said he's "not a member of my fan club."

Misogyny was another factor acknowledged by Clinton. "I do think it played a role," the former secretary of state said, "I think other things did as well."

During the interview, she did not attempt to hide her contempt for Trump's administration, saying that she considered herself "part of the resistance".

"Remember, I did win more than three million votes more than my opponent', she added, referencing her win the popular vote, despite losing the decisive electoral college contest.