Ivanka Trump reportedly used a personal email account to discuss White House business for much of 2017.
President Donald Trump’s daughter and adviser sent hundreds of official emails on an account with a domain shared with husband (and fellow adviser) Jared Kushner, The Washington Post reported Monday, citing people familiar with a White House examination of her correspondence.
There’s some irony in that finding. During the 2016 presidential election campaign, Donald Trump criticized rival Hillary Clinton over her use of a private email account for official business when she was secretary of state, and he has continued to do so. Clinton had a private email server in her home’s basement and saw an archive of thousands of emails deleted by a computer specialist.
Many of Ivanka Trump’s emails to White House aides, cabinet officials and her assistants violated federal records rules, according to the Post. She reportedly said she wasn’t familiar with some details of those rules when first asked about the practice.
Peter Mirijanian, a spokesperson for Ivanka Trump’s attorney and ethics counsel Abbe Lowell, noted that Trump occasionally used her private account “almost always for logistics and scheduling concerning her family” during her transition into government until she was made aware of the rules.
“To address misinformation being peddled about Ms. Trump’s personal email, she did not create a private server in her house or office, there was never classified information transmitted, the account was never transferred or housed at Trump Organization, no emails were ever deleted, and the emails have been retained in the official account in conformity with records preservation laws and rules,” Mirijanian said in an emailed statement.
The examination was sparked by record requests from watchdog group American Oversight.
“The president’s family is not above the law, and there are serious questions that Congress should immediately investigate,” Austin Evers, the group’s executive director, said in a statement.
The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.