Jared Kushner used private email for White House business
Lawyer for Trump’s son-in-law and senior aide says he sent or responded to fewer than 100 emails from administration officials from his private account
US President Donald Trump’s adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner communicated with colleagues in the White House using a private email address.
Between January and August, Kushner sent or responded to fewer than 100 emails from White House officials from his private account, Kushner’s attorney Abbe Lowell said in a statement.
“These usually forwarded news articles or political commentary and most often occurred when someone initiated the exchange by sending an email to his personal, rather than his White House, address,” Lowell said.
The attorney said Kushner, a key aide to Trump, uses his White House address to discuss White House and that any non-personal emails have been forwarded to his official account and preserved.
Politico first reported Kushner’s use of a private email account, saying he used his account to conduct government business on a regular basis.
Politico said it had reviewed some two dozen emails from Kushner, which included messages to former White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, National Economic Council director Gary Cohn, and former chief strategist Steve Bannon.
The use of personal email to discuss government business is a politically freighted issue that factored prominently in last year’s presidential election.
Hillary Clinton faced an FBI investigation for much of her unsuccessful White House bid over her use of a private email server as secretary of state.
Former FBI Director James Comey said that though Clinton and her aides were “extremely careless” in their handling of classified information, there was no evidence that anyone intended to break the law. He recommended against prosecution.
Trump argued during the campaign that Clinton deserved to be prosecuted and has continued to suggest that even after being elected president.
At Trump rallies throughout his campaign and since his upset victory last year, a common refrain has been “lock her up!”
At a political event in Alabama on Sunday, he responded to supporter chants of “lock her up” by saying, “You’ve got to speak to (Attorney General) Jeff Sessions about that.”