WASHINGTON, Dec. 17 (UPI) — Defense Secretary Ash Carter used his personal email account for government business during his first two months at the Pentagon, in direct violations of Defense Department rules, officials said.
The New York Times found Carter sent 72 work-related emails from his personal account in April to his former chief of staff Eric Fanning and other top aides. It is unclear how many emails he sent and received from his personal account overall.
He continued this practice for at least two months after it was publicly revealed that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton used a personal email server during some of her tenure.
Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said it “was a mistake” and the practice has been stopped. Cook said the personal account was rarely used for government business. He said Carter prefers phone calls or personal contact rather than emails.
“Any email related to work received on this personal account, such as an invitation to speak at an event or an administrative issue, is copied or forwarded to his official account so it can be preserved as a federal record as appropriate,” Cook said. “After reviewing his email practices earlier this year, the secretary believes that his previous, occasional use of personal email for work-related business, even for routine administrative issues and backed up to his official account, was a mistake.”
The use of personal email has dogged Democratic presidential front-runner Clinton since February and prompted an FBI investigation. Clinton has turned over some 55,000 emails and has faced several rounds of questioning from Republicans.
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