The Senate will investigate Defense Secretary Ash Carter’s use of personal email for work business to ensure he did not send any sensitive information.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said Thursday that the Senate Armed Services Committee, which he chairs, had requested copies of the emails to review them and make sure no information was compromised.
“With all the public attention surrounding the improper use of personal email by other administration officials, it is hard to believe that Secretary Carter would exercise the same error in judgment,” McCain said in a statement.
Carter used his personal email for official business for at least two months after he took over as leader of the Pentagon this year, even after former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton drew criticism for her use of personal email. Carter’s inappropriate use of email was first reported by the New York Times late Wednesday night.
Rep. Mac Thornberry, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, urged Carter to ask the Defense Department inspector general to make sure classified material wasn’t transmitted.
“It would be prudent for his assessment to extend to Secretary Carter’s time as deputy secretary of defense as well,” the Texas Republican said. “Congress should be briefed on the results.”
Carter told reporters that he had used his personal email installed on his iPhone for some “administrative work.”
“That I shouldn’t have been doing,” Carter told reporters traveling with him this week, according to a Defense Department transcript. “Particularly someone in my position, and with the sensitivities about this issue, should have known better.”
“It’s not like I didn’t have the opportunity to understand what the right thing to do is,” he added. “I didn’t do the right thing. This is entirely on me.”
Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said the secretary never used any type of email for classified material and that any official emails sent to his personal account were forwarded to his official account to be properly preserved as part of the federal record.
“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. As a result, he stopped such use of his personal email and further limited his use of email altogether. He is confident that his work-related email has been and will continue to be preserved within the federal records system,” Cook said.
White House press secretary Josh Earnest said during Thursday’s briefing that the White House chief of staff asked administration lawyers to contact the Pentagon when concerns were previously raised about Carter’s email use.
“There is clear guidance that’s been given by the administration about what those practices should entail. There’s no ambiguity about them,” Earnest said. “I’m certainly not aware of any officials who are currently using their personal email for official government work on a regular basis. If there are, this surely is yet another reminder of why that would be a poor choice.”
