Jared Kushner has used a private email account for White House business

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last updated 25 September 2017

Jared Kushner, President Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser, has used a private email address he set up after the election to communicate about White House matters with other administration officials, Politico reported Sunday and Kushner's lawyer, Abbe Lowell, confirmed. Kushner and his wife, Ivanka Trump, set up the private family domain and new email addresses in December.

Kushner mostly "uses his White House email address to conduct White House business," Lowell said in a statement. "Fewer than 100 emails from January through August were either sent to or returned by Mr. Kushner to colleagues in the White House from his personal email account," mostly "forwarded news articles or political commentary." To comply with the Presidential Records Act, Kushner forwarded all non-personal emails to his White House account, Lowell said, and "all have been preserved in any event." The lawyer did not say who determined which emails were personal and which were business-related.

Other White House officials have also conducted business over personal email, including former White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus and chief strategist Stephen Bannon, Politico reports. During the 2016 campaign, Trump relentlessly hammered opponent Hillary Clinton for her use of private email while secretary of state, a practice that led to a lengthy FBI investigation. Trump still talks of having the Justice Department prosecute Clinton. There is no indication that Kushner sent classified information over his private email account, and a government official tells The New York Times that unlike Clinton, the Kushners did not set up a private server. Still, Politico says, "Kushner's representatives declined to detail the server or security measures on it." You can read more at Politico.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.