President Trump's Son-in-Law and Senior Adviser Jared Kushner has Corresponded with other Administration Officials about White House matters through a Private Email Account set up during the Transition last December, part of a larger pattern of Trump Administration Aides using Personal Email Accounts for Government Business.
Kushner uses his Private Account alongside his Official White House Email Account, sometimes Trading Emails with Senior White House Officials, Outside Advisers, and others about Media Coverage, Event Planning, and other subjects.
“Mr. Kushner uses his White House email address to conduct White House business,” said Abbe Lowell, a Lawyer for Kushner in a statement Sunday. “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.”
Aides who have Exchanged Emails with Kushner on his Private Account since Trump took Office in January include former Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, former Chief Strategist Steve Bannon, Gary Cohn, and Spokesman Josh Raffel. In some Cases those White House Officials have Emailed Kushner’s Account First.
The decision to set up New, Private Accounts as Kushner was preparing to enter the White House came in the wake of a bitter Election Campaign in which his Father-in-Law Trump routinely excoriated his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton for using a Personal Email Account to handle Government Business when she was Secretary of State.
Currently, there is no indication that Kushner has Shared any Sensitive or Classified Material on his Private Account, or that he relies on his Private Email Account more than his Official White House Account to Conduct Government Business.
Under the current Presidential Records Act, if you do use a Private Email Account, you must Copy incoming Emails to your Government Account, and when Sending an Email, Forward a Copy to your Government Email Account.
People familiar with the Account say it was Primarily set up for Kushner’s Personal Communications, but he has used it to Communicate with Acquaintances outside the White House about matters relating to Trump and the Administration, as well as with his White House Colleagues.
Kushner has been under Scrutiny in the ongoing Russia Probes, which have expanded to include potential Obstruction of Justice by the President and his aides since January, and Kushner’s Private Email Traffic may also be of interest to FBI and Congressional Investigators.
Ivanka Trump, now an Assistant to the President, also has an Email Account on the Same Domain, but currently there is no indication that she used her Account to discuss Government Business.
Other White House Officials have also sometimes used Personal Accounts to correspond with Kushner and with each other. They have also used Encrypted Apps like Signal and Confide that Automatically Delete Messages, prompting former Press Secretary Sean Spicer in February to issue a Warning to Communications Staffers that using such Apps could Violate the Presidential Records Act.
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