Past echoes in Ivanka Trump’s private email used for business

WASHINGTON—A public official is said to have conducted government business via private email. Sound familiar? This time, it’s Ivanka Trump, President Donald Trump’s daughter and White House adviser.

Ivanka Trump sent hundreds of emails about government business from a personal email account last year to White House aides, Cabinet members and her assistant, many in violation of public records rules, The Washington Post has reported. News of her email practices spawned accusations of hypocrisy. Donald Trump mercilessly criticized Hillary Clinton, his 2016 Democratic presidential rival, for her use of a private email server during her time as secretary of state under President Barack Obama.

A look at similarities and the differences between the two cases.

SIMILARITIES

Ivanka Trump, an unpaid adviser, and Clinton, as the nation’s top diplomat, conducted government business using personal, non-government email accounts.

Both claimed to be unaware of rules against using private email to conduct the public’s business.

DIFFERENCES

According to President Trump and a spokesman for Ivanka Trump’s lawyer, Abbe Lowell, there are key differences between the two cases.

They maintain:

■ Unlike Clinton, Ivanka Trump did not have a private server in her home or office. Clinton used a personal email account linked to a private server at her home in Chappaqua, a New York City suburb.

■ Ivanka Trump never emailed classified information. Clinton said she never knowingly emailed classified information; the FBI found classified information in some of the emails that were sent or received through her private server.

■ Ivanka Trump never deleted emails. Clinton deleted thousands of emails that she and her lawyers decided were personal or unrelated to her work as secretary of state before she turned over thousands of other emails to federal investigators.

Republicans and Democrats in Congress are expected to look into the matter.