This past summer, Republicans were fond of saying Hillary Clinton ought to be “locked up” because she endangered national security using a home-brew email server during her tenure as Secretary of State.
Now Newsweek reports that several members of the Trump administration are going to be using private Republican National Committee email accounts while serving in the White House.
This is an issue, the publication notes, because U.S. intelligence agencies claim that “the RNC email system… was hacked during the 2016 race.”
Included among the administration officials who have RNC email accounts are Kellyanne Conway, Jared Kushner, Sean Spicer and Steve Bannon.
“They better be careful after making such a huge ruckus over the private email over at the State Department,” former Bush administration ethics attorney Richard Painter tells Newsweek.
While it isn’t illegal for the administration officials to use the RNC’s private email, they are prohibited from using those accounts to conduct government-related business without properly disclosing them.
“If White House staffers have already used the RNC emails system for White House work, they must copy or forward those communications into the government system within 20 days,” Newsweek writes of disclosure requirements that went into effect in 2014. “The Disclosure Requirement was passed to prevent presidents from shielding communications that fall under the Presidential Records Act of 1978.”
The private RNC emails aren’t the only potential security problem for the White House either, as The New York Times reports that President Trump is still using his unsecured Android phone to send out tweets from the White House.
Now Newsweek reports that several members of the Trump administration are going to be using private Republican National Committee email accounts while serving in the White House.
This is an issue, the publication notes, because U.S. intelligence agencies claim that “the RNC email system… was hacked during the 2016 race.”
Included among the administration officials who have RNC email accounts are Kellyanne Conway, Jared Kushner, Sean Spicer and Steve Bannon.
“They better be careful after making such a huge ruckus over the private email over at the State Department,” former Bush administration ethics attorney Richard Painter tells Newsweek.
While it isn’t illegal for the administration officials to use the RNC’s private email, they are prohibited from using those accounts to conduct government-related business without properly disclosing them.
“If White House staffers have already used the RNC emails system for White House work, they must copy or forward those communications into the government system within 20 days,” Newsweek writes of disclosure requirements that went into effect in 2014. “The Disclosure Requirement was passed to prevent presidents from shielding communications that fall under the Presidential Records Act of 1978.”
The private RNC emails aren’t the only potential security problem for the White House either, as The New York Times reports that President Trump is still using his unsecured Android phone to send out tweets from the White House.