Trump family’s use of private email, chats comes under fire

WASHINGTON— In the waning days of the 2016 presidential campaign, Donald Trump turned his focus to the FBI investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server when she was secretary of state, suggesting it was “bigger than Watergate.”

“Hillary set up an illegal server for the obvious purpose of shielding her criminal conduct from public disclosure and exposure, knowing full well that her actions put our national security at risk,” he said at a rally in Phoenix.

Democrats now charge that Trump’s daughter and her husband, who serve as aides, did the same things.

The basis for their accusations was the letter Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, D-Md., chairman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, sent to Pat Cipollone, the White House counsel, saying Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in- law and senior adviser, has used WhatsApp to communicate with foreign contacts about White House business. Cummings also said that Ivanka Trump, the president’s eldest daughter, did not preserve some emails that were sent to her private account, as she claimed in the past, possibly violating federal records laws.

It is not the first time questions have been raised about how Ivanka Trump and Kushner have used private communications in their government roles. But the irony of the new accusations was savoured by Clinton’s former aides.

“For his endless faults, Jared should at least know what chutzpah means,” said Philippe Reines, a top adviser to Clinton, referring to the Yiddish word meaning “gall.”

“And while there’s no specific Yiddish word for continuing the practice even after the Democrats took control of the House, ‘mashugana’ fits,” Reines said, referring to the word meaning “crazy.”