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Democrats Intend To Probe Ivanka Trump's Use of Personal Email In Next Congress (go.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from ABC News: Amid reports that first daughter and White House senior advisor Ivanka Trump exchanged hundreds of official government business emails using a personal email account, top Democrats on Capitol Hill "want to know if Ivanka complied with the law" and in the next Congress plan to continue their investigation of the Presidential Records Act and Federal Records Act. Rep. Elijah Cummings, the ranking Democrat who's in line to become the next chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee next year, promises any potential investigation into Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump's emails won't be like the "spectacle" Republicans led in the Clinton email probe.
The Oversight committee has jurisdiction over records and transparency laws, and Cummings helped write an update to the Presidential and Federal Records Acts that was signed into law by President Barack Obama in 2014. That measure mandates that every federal employee, including the President, forward any message about official business sent using a private account to the employee's official email account within 20 days. "We launched a bipartisan investigation last year into White House officials' use of private email accounts for official business, but the White House never gave us the information we requested," Cummings, D-Md., noted. "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. My goal is to prevent this from happening again -- not to turn this into a spectacle the way Republicans went after Hillary Clinton. My main priority as Chairman will be to focus on the issues that impact Americans in their everyday lives."
The Oversight committee has jurisdiction over records and transparency laws, and Cummings helped write an update to the Presidential and Federal Records Acts that was signed into law by President Barack Obama in 2014. That measure mandates that every federal employee, including the President, forward any message about official business sent using a private account to the employee's official email account within 20 days. "We launched a bipartisan investigation last year into White House officials' use of private email accounts for official business, but the White House never gave us the information we requested," Cummings, D-Md., noted. "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. My goal is to prevent this from happening again -- not to turn this into a spectacle the way Republicans went after Hillary Clinton. My main priority as Chairman will be to focus on the issues that impact Americans in their everyday lives."
(nt)
Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
Why is it at least 1/3rd of the stories on this site are basically just ORANGE MAN BAD. It's fucking exhausting.
Everyone keeps comparing this to what Hillary did. Not sure why.
She was using a non-government account for government business. Hillary set us her own email sever in an unoccupied house and transferred classified information on to it.
These things are not comparable.
Usually... yes, however the statutes Hillary violated has no mens rea requirement: https://www.law.cornell.edu/us...
So nice of you to try to move the goal posts.
What's next? Screams of "but they weren't classified at the time"?
Help Brendan pay off his student loans
Leaving any classified info in any unsecured location is instant violation, there is No Gray area in the law. I remember someone was interviewed about classified info. He said if he left a classified document on his desk in his off at say the pentagon and left the room. Didn't lock it up in his office safe, that would be grounds for his clearance to be revoked no if's and's or buts. There was a guy took pictures inside a sub which was listed as confidential, the lowest level of classification so he could show his kids/grand kids what he did. He got a YEAR in prison for that and they were easy on him. Clinton sent and received hundreds classified documents through her server and she can't claim ignorance to it as she knew she would be sent that kinda material as head of state department.
and go after him for violations of the emoluments clause. Then we can worry about little things like this. I don't want political theater designed to keep Clinton Democrats busy, I want the rule of law restored.
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Just charge both Hillary and Ivanka now with violating Espionage Act and be done with it already. Let the chips fall where they may.
You might want to take your refresher briefings, then.
The things you describe usually fall into a lot of nice labels like "violations", "infractions", "procedural errors", and the like, but they very rarely end up as "felonies", because the applicable statute is one that includes that high bar of intent, by stipulating that the perpetrator must "knowingly" commit the act.
Indeed, that "felony" label is typically only reserved for someone who's about to be indicted for a lot of other related crimes, and for good reason: The security community has worked hard over the last hundred years or so to develop a culture of forgiving loyalty. Honest mistakes are usually forgiven, and written off with a minor warning, removal of access, or removal of clearance, but usually no attempt to pursue criminal charges or other long-lasting ramifications. The system intentionally errs on the side of caution, preferring to let even the most egregious violations pass rather than risk prosecuting an innocent mistake and creating a potential traitor. In doing so, there's a much greater chance that someone will come forward and report violations, rather than hide in fear that they might be held liable.
I spent a good number of years working in the defense industry, and I've seen plenty (probably a 3-digit number) of "spills", "slips", and "mistakes". I've only seen one person actually be accused of having that criminal level of intent, though... and that was mostly due to him leaving the country immediately after committing several violations. If he ever comes back, I'm sure there will be plenty of interesting discussions including that "felony" label.
Justice is a funny thing, in that the reality usually matters less than the perception. In matters that are necessarily kept secret, there will seldom be satisfaction that justice was actually served. Justice is only assured when there is faith that the judicial process is always applied consistently. That's precisely why I think Mrs. Trump's server should also be subject to a full investigation, with all the same review, and the same fussing over the implications of whatever dozen problems are actually found. I'd expect the same process if a Pentagon official were found to run his own email server, too, or even a lowly base commander in the field. Like it or not, a precedent has been set, and it must now be applied evenly.
That said, I'd also prefer to do without the media circus that surrounded the Clinton investigation. This is now routine. A personal email server was found that might hold sensitive or classified information, so we go through the process. It's not newsworthy, it's not political, and it's not something that should skew public perception. Fix the problems, give a good stern warning to whatever moron approved the idea, and let's get on with running the country, shall we?
You do not have a moral or legal right to do absolutely anything you want.