Monday, September 25, 2017

New York Times: "Kushner Used Personal Email Account for Government Business"

Article Link: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/24/us/politics/kushner-personal-email.html
Alternate Article Link (story originally reported by Politico.com): http://www.politico.com/story/2017/09/24/jared-kushner-private-email-white-house-243071


Jared Kushner, who is the son-in-law and senior advisor to President Donald Trump (Image via Wikimedia Commons)

On the same day in which President Donald Trump has been criticized for attacking professional athletes and issuing various new travel bans, it has been reported that his son-in-law and senior advisor, Jared Kushner, has used a personal email account "'to conduct official government business.'"  The use of the personal account was described in detail by Mr. Kushner's lawyer, Abbe Lowell, who claimed that it had been used to send "'fewer than a hundred emails" involving Kushner's colleagues in the White House during the first seven months of the current administration's term. Kushner's lawyer also remarked that the emails sent mainly consisted of "'forwarded news articles and political commentary,'" and that these emails were initiated when individuals sent messages to Kushner's personal account rather than his White House account. 

The emergence of this news seems to draw a clear parallel to the events of the past election, during which President Trump aggressively confronted and exploited Hillary Clinton's use of her own private email account during her time as Secretary of State. Ironically, it now seems as if the tables could have turned on President Trump and his staff. This event will only add to the amount of scrutiny that has been received by the current administration during their time in office. Not only is President Donald Trump under investigation by the F.B.I. for possible collusion with Russia, but Kushner himself has been previously criticized for omitting information about his contacts with Russian officials during the election period. With this new information, it is possible that the F.B.I. will be able to make progress in their investigation and expose new information that will put the Trump administration at more risk than they are currently in. 

Personally, I believe that Kushner's actions must be placed in the same conversation as that of Clinton's past actions, as both individuals used private email accounts to conduct government business. Since President Trump believes that Clinton's actions are punishable by prosecution, then Kushner should be eligible to receive that same punishment; that being said, however, I do not expect Trump to push for Kushner's punishment. Kushner is Trump's family and advisor, so Trump is most likely going to ironically and hypocritically excuse his actions. Either way, the F.B.I. needs to investigate Kushner, just as they did with Clinton.

Questions:
1) What do you believe should be the proper course of action, for both the Trump administration and the F.B.I., to take after the emergence of this news? Should Kushner's actions be dismissed as insignificant, or should he too be investigated by the F.B.I? 
2) If you want to take your response to #1 a step further, answer this: Should Kushner even be allowed to keep his position in the White House? Why or why not?
3) It is clear that there have been some issues with personal email accounts throughout the government in the past and present. Is there anything that can be done to prevent or eliminate such issues? What policies, if needed, should be enacted to ensure the security of government information and the transparency of government officials?


1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Jared Kushner should have the same punishment as Hillary Clinton because if Trump believes what Hillary did was so wrong, Kushner's emails should be treated the same. Kushner's actions should be investigated by the FBI because without investigation, there is no way to know if those emails were really insignificant. Kushner should have the same punishment as what Trump said he would have done to Hillary, just because Kushner is his son-in-law should not give him special treatment. Trump said Hillary was a criminal, so Kushner should be treated as a criminal too. I think the main problem with government emails is that they are harder to sign in to and gain access to, which means that it is much easier to login to their gmail accounts than a secure server. I think that the punishment needs to be clearer so that people know the consequences, and are more likely to follow the rules.