THERE'LL BE HILL TO PAY IVANKA!
Dems will probe her use of personal e-mail
House Democrats plan to investigate First Daughter Ivanka Trump’s use of personal e-mail in the White House to determine if she violated federal record-keeping laws.
Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, incoming chair of the House Oversight Committee, said Tuesday that it would renew a request filed last year for documents about personal e-mail accounts at the White House, noting the requested information was not provided at the time.
“We need those documents to ensure that Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner and other officials are complying with federal records laws and there is a complete record of the activities of this administration,” Cummings (D-Md.) said in a statement.
An investigation by the White House found Ivanka, who has an office in the West Wing and is an adviser to her father, conducted business via her personal e-mail address for much of 2017, The Washington Post reported.
Democrats take control of the House in January, which means they will have subpoena power to compel witnesses to testify.
President Trump defended his daughter on Tuesday, calling the report that she may have violated the regulations “fake news” and saying it was not comparable to Hillary Clinton’s use of a private e-mail server when she was secretary of state.
“There was no hiding. There was no deleting like Hillary Clinton did. There was no service in the basement like Hillary Clinton had,” Trump told reporters as he departed the White House for his Mar-a-Lago resort. “You’re talking about all fake news.”
He also claimed Ivanka’s emails were all placed in the presidential record.
When Kushner’s use of personal e-mail came to light last year, the House Oversight Committee started a bipartisan inquiry into potential violations of the Presidential Records Act.
Democrats were frustrated that the GOP majority didn’t press the administration for answers.
“This started as a bipartisan investigation that the Republicans dropped,” said a House Democratic aide. “The White House still owes us the information from the letters that [former Chairman Jason] Chaffetz sent on this topic.”
A rep for Ivanka admitted that she used private e-mail at times before she allegedly knew the rules, but maintained that none of her messages involved classified material.
“Ms. Trump did not create a
private server in her house or office, no classified information was ever included, the account was never transferred at the Trump Organization, and no emails were ever deleted,” said Peter Mirijanian, a spokesman for Ivanka’s lawyer, Abbe Lowell.
Critics were quick to point out the hypocrisy of Ivanka relying on personal e-mail since her father built his presidential campaign on putting “crooked” Hillary Clinton behind bars for her use of personal e-mail.
“#Ivanka sent hundreds of emails re gov’nt business on her personal server! We’re scandalized!” actress Bette Midler wrote on Twitter. “All I can do is repeat what her father said when Hillary did something not unlike what his First Daughter did!! LOCK HER UP! LOCK HER UP!!! LOCK HER UP!! How do you like it now, putz?”