According to Politico, President Trump’s son-in-law and senior advisor Jared Kushner has been communicating with White House officials through a private email server. The account was set up during the transition period in December and has been used to discuss media coverage, event planning, and other official matters.
Kushner's lawyer attempts defense amongst allegations and hypocrisy
Kushner’s lawyer, Abbe Lowell, defended the use of the private server. He said in a statement on Sunday, “Mr. Kushner uses his White House email address to conduct White House business.
Fewer than 100 emails from January through August were either sent to or returned by Mr. Kushner to colleagues in the White House from his personal email account. 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.”
Kushner’s use of a private email server is consistent with the pattern of other senior Trump aids using personal email accounts to discuss government business. The revelation is especially troubling, considering the Trump team’s continuous criticism of Democratic Presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server while she was Secretary of State.
Clinton underwent an extensive FBI investigation to see whether her use of a private server caused her to mishandle classified information. The investigation, led by former FBI Director James Comey, is often cited as one of the reasons for her defeated in the 2016 Presidential Election.
Use of private server raises suspicions during Russia investigation
While there is no indication that Kushner has sent sensitive or classified emails on the private server, he has used it to email top aids, including former chief of staff Reince Priebus, former chief strategist Steve Bannon, National Economic Council director Gary Cohn, and spokesman Josh Raffel.
Kushner is currently under scrutiny for the ongoing Russia investigation. The emails on the server could be of interest to FBI investigators. However, they could also sidestep the requirements of the Presidential Records Act, “which requires all documents related to the president’s personal and political activities to be archived.”
Other White House staffers have used cryptic methods of communication, including apps Signal and Confide, which automatically delete messages. The use of the apps prompted former press secretary Sean Spicer to issue a warning that communicating via the apps could violate the Presidential Records Act.
While there hasn’t been any proof of mishandling classified or sensitive information, there have been reports that Kushner and the Russian ambassador discussed setting up a secret communications channel between the Trump transition team and the Kremlin. Such reports should make people wary of Kushner’s trustworthiness when handling and communicating information.
