By TAYLOR FARNSWORTH
Opinions Editor
We all remember watching Donald Trump’s supporters in unison chanting, “Lock her up,” in reference to Hillary Clinton during the presidential campaign. Trump would stand there shrugging his shoulders, grinning from ear to ear as his supporters criticized Clinton for her use of a personal email account while Secretary of State. The chants became a platform for Trump to run on, portraying Clinton as being untrustworthy and careless. Supporters were in full belief that with Trump as President, Clinton would be behind bars.
Well, it’s a little over 250 days since Trump took office, and Clinton is not behind bars. In fact, the administration’s efforts to put Clinton in jail would seem rather hypocritical now that six of Trump’s advisers are guilty of using his or her own personal email accounts.
Reports stated that Jared Kushner, senior White House adviser, has been using both his personal email to speak with other administration officials, as well as his official email address. The news came out Sunday, Sept. 24, as Abbe Lowell, Kushner’s lawyer confirmed Kushner’s use of his personal email account to “conduct White House business.” Although less than 100 emails have been sent from Kushner’s personal email, whereas Clinton had thousands, the irony cannot be ignored.
Kushner’s use of a personal email account began in January and continued into August. Emails on his personal account were typically sent or returned by Kushner to other White House officials. The email account was made back in December and was primarily used for trading emails with senior White House officials, outside advisers, and the media. The majority of the content on Kushner’s personal email was forwarded news articles or political commentary pieces that were forwarded to his personal account opposed to his work one. According to Lowell, all of the emails from his personal account have been forwarded to his White House account and are saved.
But Kushner isn’t the only adviser under scrutiny; five other advisers, or former advisers, have also used his or her own private email account during the presidency to discuss work-related content. Steve Bannon, former chief White House strategist, Reince Priebus, former chief of staff, and advisers, Gary Cohn, Stephen Miller, and Ivanka Trump, have all used his or her own personal email account at some point during the presidency. Ms. Trump had used a personal account during the early months of the administration before she was a paid adviser, but continued to use it once she became an official White House adviser.
The federal law requires that all White House records need to be preserved, including emails. It is not illegal for White House officials to use his or her own personal email account, as long as he or she forwards government related messages to work email accounts. The use of personal emails may not be illegal, but they still pose a serious threat to security.
Trump ran an entire campaign against Clinton simply for the use of her personal email account and the thousands of work-related emails claimed to be on there. The FBI had investigated Clinton’s case, but closed the investigation and recommended no charges. But Trump never let the topic die, even after becoming president, he has insisted on a reinvestigation. If Trump was asked why his promise to make Clinton face federal criminal charges was not enacted yet, he would direct his attention to Jeff Sessions, Attorney General, blaming him as the reason she is not behind bars yet.
There may be no proof that Kushner had used his personal email to handle classified information, but with the ongoing Russian investigation, the public’s trust in him is minimal. Clinton had also said she did not use her private email server for classified information, but the concern was placed on how the government would preserve her personal emails, not necessarily the content, although content mattered.
With the news of Trump’s advisers using personal emails, Trump supporters may want to start thinking of a new chant or platform to run on. My advice would be something that doesn’t evoke a sense of irony and hypocrisy, despite those characteristics being exactly what this administration continues to define itself as.
