During the 2016 campaign, Trump and his supporters crucified Hillary Clinton over her use of private emails while she served as Secretary of State in the Obama Administration. Trump’s campaign rallies regularly featured chants of “lock her up” based on Clinton’s use of emails. Trump called Clinton’s email usage a scandal “bigger than Watergate” and regularly called his rival “crooked Hillary.”
That’s why the revelation that Ivanka Trump used a private email after she joined his administration is such a bombshell. Ivanka is defending her use of a private account by saying there is no comparison with what Clinton did. Ivanka is right; what Ivanka did is worse. After bashing Clinton for the last three years over the use of private emails, Ivanka should have known better than to repeat Clinton’s admitted mistake.
Ivanka arrogantly decided that government rules don’t apply to her. One might think after three years of hearing her father’s base shout “lock her up” that Ivanka would avoid the same practice.
Now Ivanka is attempting to defend her use of a personal account to conduct White House business. Her arrogant and hypocritical defense is that no one should question any similarities between her use of a private email account and Clinton’s use of a private email. Ivanka brazenly claims there is no “equivalency.”
In an interview with ABC’s Deborah Roberts, Ivanka argued that there were no similarities between she and Hillary Clinton.
“Well, there really is no equivalency. All of my emails that relate to any form of government work which was mainly scheduling and logistics and managing the fact that I have a home life and a work life are all part of the public record,” said Ivanka. “They’re all stored on the White House system so everything has been preserved. Everything has been archived. There just is no equivalency between the two.”
The Washington Post’s report that exposed Ivanka’s use of private emails indicates that her claims fall far short of a complete explanation.
“Ivanka Trump sent hundreds of emails last year to White House aides, Cabinet officials and her assistants using a personal account, many of them in violation of federal records rules, according to people familiar with a White House examination of her correspondence,” the report read. “Some aides were startled by the volume of Ivanka Trump’s personal emails — and taken aback by her response when questioned about the practice. She said she was not familiar with some details of the rules, according to people with knowledge of her reaction.”
Trump focused on Clinton’s use of private emails as the primary issue in the campaign in destroying her credibility. He regularly referred to her as “crooked Hillary” and his campaign rallies featured the crowd shouting “lock her up” whenever he mentioned her name. All of his name calling and calls for jailing her centered on her handling of private emails.
His base has continued the chant of “lock her up” at Trump’s post-election rallies. In Trump’s recent October Rally supporting Republican candidates in Council Bluffs, Iowa the crowd once again chanted “lock her up” when Trump mentioned Clinton.
Ivanka’s explanation of her use of a personal email account must receive the same scrutiny Trump has demanded of Clinton’s. House Democrats are vowing to investigate Ivanka’s use of emails and determine if Ivanka should be locked up.
by Rick Smith
Posted 11/30/18
