Blumenthal, House Oversight Dems Call for Official Investigation into Ivanka Trump
In the wake of reports that Ivanka Trump used a personal email account to discuss government affairs, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal offered his support for an investigation into the matter.
The Connecticut Democrat told CNN anchor John Berman on Tuesday that the results of a recent White House review warranted such a probe.
.@SenBlumenthal: Ivanka Trump using her personal email account for official WH business is part of a “larger story” of the “mixing of public and private as with her clothing brand and her public position…There should be some kind of investigative effort” https://t.co/AeZhLNkXnf pic.twitter.com/kZRoLuRDE1
— New Day (@NewDay) November 20, 2018
Berman compared the allegations about Trump, the president’s daughter and a senior White House adviser, to similar claims surrounding Hillary Clinton’s email use during her tenure as secretary of state.
Blumenthal echoed the sentiment expressed earlier in the day by the former legislative director for President Donald Trump.
Ivanka Trump last year often used a personal email account to discuss or relay official White House business, according to emails released by a nonpartisan watchdog group.
“It’s hypocritical and certainly looks bad,” says former Trump aide Marc Short https://t.co/eZAnhDDx0t pic.twitter.com/VLudbX4Spt
— New Day (@NewDay) November 20, 2018
“Marc Short has the right word for it: hypocrisy,” Blumenthal said.
He told Berman that there is “no way” Ivanka Trump was unaware of the law preventing such email use.
“But really, there’s a larger story here, which is the mixing of public and private as with her clothing brand and her public position, the blending and mixing of emails on her private account and public account,” he said. “And it raises the issue of whether there has been anything improper.”
He said the issue deserves “some kind of investigative effort” either “through the Office of Government Ethics or through the Congress.”
Berman noted that many Democrats felt the email issue was overblown as it related to Clinton, leading Blumenthal to offer some context to his call for an investigation.
“I think there are real challenges ahead on immigration, on infrastructure, on other issues like jobs and the economy that really have to be faced by this Congress,” the senator said.
While he does not want to see lawmakers “driven apart by party or personal insults,” he said a Democrat-controlled House of Representatives must hold the administration accountable.
“Accountability and progress on the issues is not incompatible,” Blumenthal said. “And the principle person who has to be held accountable is the president of the United States and his self-dealing.”
He said legislators can investigate claims that the president is “putting himself above the law,” which he said appears to be what Ivanka Trump has done with her emails.
As for whether the younger Trump has violated the law, Blumenthal said that is “a question for us after we know more about the facts and the evidence.”
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