Sometimes, the press publishes informative stories that are intended to provide the American public with the information they need to know about the inner workings of the government.
Politico’s recent story about Jared Kushner’s use of a private email address is not one of those stories. On Sunday, they published a piece entitled “Kushner uses private email to conduct White House business.” Sounds pretty scandalous, right? Didn’t a recent presidential candidate lose an election because of her use of a private email server?
This story must be huge, right?
Not quite.
While the headline will undoubtedly cause a casual reader to think that Kushner is guilty of the same sins as Hillary Clinton, the reality is something much different.
Politico Reports That Kushner Uses a Private Email Address
According to Politico, Senior Adviser Jared Kushner used a private email account to correspond with other officials in the Trump administration. Apparently, he discussed matters pertaining to the White House using the private email, which he set up during the transition in December. Politico indicates that this was “part of a larger pattern of Trump administration aides using personal email accounts for government business.”
Kushner uses both his private email account and his White House email account to interact with other officials in the administration. The officials use email to discuss media coverage, event planning, and other issues. Officials who have corresponded with the Kushner include former chief of staff Reince Priebus, former chief strategist Stephen Bannon, spokesman Josh Raffel, and others.
While the majority of Politico’s article is filled with implications of potential wrongdoing, they do acknowledge that, “there is no indication that Kushner has shared any sensitive or classified material on his private account, or that he relies on his private email account more than his official White House account to conduct government business.”
They also report that Kushner typically prefers phone calls or text messages to email. Abbe Lowell, Kushner’s attorney, released a statement on Sunday:
“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. These usually forwarded news articles or political commentary and most often occurred when someone initiated the exchange by sending an email to his personal address rather than his White House address.”
Is Kushner’s Email Use Similar to Hillary Clinton’s?
In the article, Politico relates Kushner’s private email use to that of Hillary Clinton’s. They write:
“The decision to set up new, private accounts as Kushner was preparing to enter the White House came in the wake of a bitter election campaign in which Trump routinely excoriated his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton for using a personal email account to handle government business when she was secretary of state.”
They also indicate that personal email use is “somewhat common” in the Trump White House even though Trump repeatedly criticized Clinton’s use of a private email server. Of course, they forget to mention one inconvenient fact: the main issue with her email scandal was that she was using her email account to share classified and sensitive information. There is no evidence that Kushner is putting classified information at risk.
The Never-Ending Russiagate Narrative
What news story about Jared Kushner would be complete without inserting the Russiagate narrative? When discussing Kushner’s personal email use, Politico points out that the advisor has “been under scrutiny in the ongoing Russia probes.” What would we do if we didn’t have the establishment media around to remind us of the current investigation into Russia’s attempted interference in the 2016 election?
Politico informs us that the F.B.I. might be interested in Kushner’s private email. Although, the fact that there is no evidence of wrongdoing might indicate that Politico could be disappointed when the feds don’t find a smoking gun.
Think Of The Historians!
Lastly, Politico points out that emails between Trump administration officials that aren’t saved will make it difficult for historians to compile information that could help later generations understand how the executive branch functions. Yes, that’s right – they criticize the fact that Kushner’s use of a private email account might make it harder for historians to archive pertinent information.
A quick search of Politico’s website does not turn up any articles where they show concern over the fact that Hillary Clinton’s use of a personal email – and her subsequent deletion of thousands of emails –might also cause problems for historians who wish to document the operations of the Obama administration. Go figure.
Politico’s article sounds pretty damning at first, but when you read the piece, you can easily see that it’s nothing more than a cynical attempt to smear the Trump administration and push the Russiagate narrative. Put simply, it is just another asinine example of the establishment media’s biased reporting.
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