PENCE USED PERSONAL EMAIL WHILE IN OFFICE
As governor, he sent sensitive info on his AOL account
Mike Pence routinely INDIANAPOLIS used a private email account to conduct public business as governor of Indiana, discussing sensitive matters including homeland security issues. Emails released to The Indianapolis
Star in response to a public records request show Pence communicated via his personal AOL account with top advisers on topics ranging from security gates at the governor’s residence to the state’s response to terror attacks across the globe. In one email, Pence’s top state homeland security adviser relayed an update from the FBI regarding the arrests of several men on federal terror- related charges.
Cybersecurity experts say the emails raise concerns about whether such sensitive information was adequately protected from hackers, given that personal accounts like Pence’s are typically less secure than government email accounts. In fact, Pence’s personal account was hacked last summer.
Furthermore, advocates for open government expressed concerns about transparency because personal emails aren’t immediately captured on state servers that are searched in response to public records requests.
Vice President Pence’s office in Washington said in a written statement Thursday, “Similar to previous governors, during his time as Governor of Indiana, Mike Pence maintained a state email account and a personal email account. As Governor, Mr. Pence fully complied with Indiana law regarding email use and retention. Government emails involving his state and personal accounts are being archived by the state consistent with Indiana law, and are being managed according to Indiana’s Access to Public Records Act.”
Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb’s office released more than 30 pages from Pence’s AOL account but declined to release an unspecified number of emails because the state considers them confidential and too sensitive to release to the public.
That’s of particular concern to Justin Cappos, a computer security professor at New York University’s Tandon School of Engineering.
“It’s one thing to have an AOL account and use it to send birthday cards to grandkids,” he said. “But it’s another thing to use it to send and receive messages that are sensitive and could negatively impact people if that information is public.”
Concerns surrounded Hillary Clinton’s use of a private server and email account during her tenure as secretary of State, though Pence as governor would not have dealt with national security issues as sensitive or as broad as those handled by Clinton in her position or with classified matters.
Pence fiercely criticized Clinton throughout the 2016 presidential campaign, accusing her of trying to keep her emails out of public reach and exposing classified information to potential hackers.
Pence spokesman Marc Lotter called any comparisons between Pence and Clinton “absurd,” noting that Pence didn’t deal with federally classified information as governor.
Though Pence used a well- known consumer email provider, Clinton had a private server installed in her home, he said.
Indiana law does not prohibit public officials from using personal email, although the law is generally interpreted to mean official business conducted on private email must be retained for public records purposes.
Pence’s office said his campaign hired outside counsel as he departed as governor to review his AOL emails and transfer any involving public business to the state.
Though there has been speculation about whether Clinton’s emails were hacked, Pence’s account was penetrated last summer by a scammer who sent an email to his contacts claiming he and his wife were stranded in the Philippines and in urgent need of money.
Corey Nachreiner, chief technology officer at computer security company WatchGuard Technologies, said the email accounts of Pence and Clinton were probably about equally vulnerable to cyberattacks.
“In this case, you know the email address has been hacked,” he said. “It would be hypocritical to consider this issue any different than a private email server.”