IVANKA TRUMP REPEATEDLY USED PERSONAL EMAIL AT WHITE HOUSE

HILLARY REDUX During presidential election, Trump had made an issue out of Democrat rival’s use of private email

WASHINGTON:US President Donald Trump’s daughter and adviser Ivanka Trump used a personal email account for official communications for most of 2017, raising the spectre of a controversy similar to the one that dogged Hillary Clinton for most of her election campaign.

Ivanka sent less than 100 messages from this private account to administration officials, and under 1,000 to herself and aides about her plans and schedules and also those of her family, according to a determination by her lawyer for turning them over to the government for official record-keeping.

The Washington Post, which first reported the matter, said the private email account’s messages were discovered in a review of emails of five cabinet departments last fall in connection with a public request for official records. Ivanka subsequently switched to an official account.

Ivanka’s reported defence, conveyed through her attorney to The Post, that she didn’t know the official rules on this matter has surprised officials and observers given the ringside view she had of the 2016 campaign, during which Trump led supporters to chant “lock her up” while calling for Clinton to be punished for her email troubles.

Peter Mirijanian, a spokesperson for Ivanka’s lawyer, said in a statement the private account was used “almost always for logistics and scheduling concerning her family”.

“To address misinformation being peddled about Ms Trump’s personal email, she did not create a private server in her house or office, there was never classified information transmitted, the account was never transferred or housed at Trump Organization, no emails were ever deleted, and the emails have been retained in the official account in conformity with records preservation laws and rules,” Mirijanian said.

He was drawing a distinction from Clinton’s use of a private email account as secretary of state in the Obama administration during 2009-12.