White House Officials have begun examining Emails associated with a Third and previously Unreported Email Account on Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump’s Private Domain.
Hundreds of Emails have been sent since January from White House Addresses to Accounts on the Kushner Family Domain. Many of those Emails went not to Kushner’s or Ivanka Trump’s Personal Addresses but to an Account they both had Access to and shared with their Personal Household Staff for Family scheduling.
The Emails, which include Non-Public Travel Documents, Internal Schedules, and some Official White House Materials, were in many cases sent from Ivanka Trump, her Assistant Bridges Lamar, and others who work with the Couple in the White House. The Emails to the Third Account were largely sent from White House Accounts but occasionally came from other Private Accounts.
The existence of additional Accounts on the Family Domain beyond the Two Personal Accounts used by Kushner and Ivanka Trump and reported earlier raises New Questions about the extent of Personal Email use by the couple during their time as White House Aides. Their use of Private Email Accounts for White House Business also raises concerns about the Security of potentially Sensitive Government Documents, which have been forwarded to Private Accounts.
The Family has Declined to say what Privacy Measures have been placed on the Domain, but the Setup has some Security Measures when it was installed. Many of the Emails came from Ivanka Trump’s Assistant and included Work-Related Data. Such Messages were sent Daily, and they’ve pretty much been using it since they got to the White House.
Kushner set up the New Personal Domain in December, ijkfamily.com, as he was preparing to accept a Senior Adviser role in President Trump’s Administration. Ivanka Trump joined the Administration in March but was corresponding with Officials through a Private Email Account before. In September Kushner and Ivanka Trump used their Personal Emails to conduct some Government Business. Other current or former White House Officials have also used Personal Email Accounts or Encrypted Messaging Apps that can be set to automatically Delete Communications for Official matters. The White House is Reviewing the use of Personal Email Addresses by Administration Officials.
A White House Spokesman said Staff have been told to Comply with the Presidential Records Act and Applicable Guidelines for Work-Related Communications.
The blurring of lines between Personal and Professional Communications isn’t unique to the Kushners, but the use of Personal Email Accounts creates a Security Risk, White House Officials and Experts say. “Everyone uses private email, no one thinks about security, and that’s why it keeps happening,” said James A. Lewis, Senior Vice President and Director of the Strategic Technologies Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “Even if there’s not any classified information sent, that doesn’t mean the information wasn’t sensitive.”
House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy (R-SC), and Ranking Member Elijah Cummings (D-MD) sent a Letter to White House Counsel last week Requesting more Information about the use of Private Email addresses by White House Staff. “With numerous public revelations of senior executive branch employees deliberately trying to circumvent these laws by using personal, private, or alias email addresses to conduct official government business, the Committee has aimed to use its oversight and investigative resources to prevent and deter misuse of private forms of written communication,” the Pair wrote.
Cummings and the previous Chairman, then-Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), sent a similar Letter in March after Reports that White House Staffers used Encrypted or Disappearing Messaging Apps. Concerns about how the White House should Preserve Electronic Records such as Emails far pre-date the Trump Administration. Some 22 Million White House Emails stored on Private Email Servers hosted by the Republican National Committee during President George W. Bush’s Administration were subsequently Deleted, impeding a later Investigation into Politically Motivated Firings of U.S. Attorneys.
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