Ivanka Trump Used a Personal Email Account to Discuss Government Business

Nonpartisan watchdog group, American Oversight has uncovered that Ivanka Trump used a personal email address to discuss and send official White House business.

Ivanka Trump in DC
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Image via Getty/The Washington Post

Ivanka Trump in DC

Last year, Ivanka Trump used a personal email address to discuss and send official White House business, according to nonpartisan watchdog group, American Oversight.

The Washington Post released a report on Monday, revealing that the White House had launched an investigation into Trump’s email habits and that she had used her personal email server for a large part of 2017.

American Oversight shared her emails on Monday, showing that she used her personal account to message Cabinet officials, White House aides, and assistants. The Presidential Records Act stipulates “all official White House communications and records be preserved,” CNN reports.

American Oversight’s executive director Austin Evers issued a statement, saying, “The president's family is not above the law, and there are serious questions that Congress should immediately investigate. Did Ivanka Trump turn over all of her emails for preservation as required by law? Was she sending classified information over a private system?”

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was maligned for using her personal address instead of a government account when she was in office—and Trump’s practices are sure to bring comparisons between her and Clinton. Clinton’s misstep became central to Donald Trump’s campaign against her in 2016. Trump supporters took a liking to yelling “Lock her up!” when she was mentioned, and Donald Trump would even call her “Crooked Hillary.” He has also often alleged that she was given preferential treatment since she wasn’t charged under the Presidential Records Act.

According to The Post, Ivanka Trump’s attorney, Abbe Lowell forwarded the emails he believed were linked to official government business to her government email address. Lowel thought that would remedy any offense toward the records law.

Ivanka Trump’s ethics counsel, and spokesperson for Lowell, Peter Mirijanian, also shared a statement. “Like most people, before entering into government service, Ms. Trump used a private email. When she entered the government, she was given a government email account for official use. While transitioning into government, until the White House  provided her the same guidance they had to others who started before she did, Ms. Trump sometimes used her private account, almost always for logistics and scheduling concerning her family.”

This news was very alarming for some of President Trump’s advisors, The Post reports.

In his statement, Mirijanian drew a line between Ivanka Trump and Clinton, by pointing out that Trump didn’t have the server in her home or office. “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.

According to The Post, White House officials were first informed of Trump’s email practices through American Oversight’s lawsuit. 

Evers added, “For more than two years, President Trump and senior leaders in Congress have made it very clear that they view the use of personal email servers for government business to be a serious offense that demands investigation and even prosecution, and we expect the same standard will be applied in this case.”

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