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Ivanka Trump's Lawyer Defends Her Use of Private Email Account

Sensitivities surrounding the issue stem from the 2016 election, during which Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server.

Ivanka Trump's Lawyer Defends Her Use of Private Email Account
Ivanka Trump, daughter of Donald Trump, speaks during the grand opening ceremony of the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C. (Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg)

(Bloomberg) -- Ivanka Trump used a private email account “while transitioning into government,” a spokesman for her lawyer said on Monday night.

Peter Mirijanian, a spokesman for Trump’s lawyer Abbe Lowell, said in a statement that President Donald Trump’s elder daughter -- whose White House staff title is assistant to the president -- used the private email “almost always for logistics and scheduling concerning her family.”

Ivanka Trump's Lawyer Defends Her Use of Private Email Account

The statement was released after the Washington Post reported that the White House examined her correspondence as part of its response to a public records court case and learned that she had sent hundreds of emails -- some to government officials -- on the private account.

Sensitivities surrounding the issue stem from the 2016 presidential election, during which Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server in her home during her tenure as secretary of state became a key thrust of the Trump campaign.

Trump’s email use could draw scrutiny from committees in the U.S. House of Representatives when Democrats take control of that chamber in January after picking up more than three dozen seats in the Nov. 6 midterm elections.

The White House referred requests for comment to Lowell.

“To address misinformation being peddled about Ms. Trump’s personal email, she did not create a private server in her house or office, there was never classified information transmitted, the account was never transferred or housed at Trump Organization, no emails were ever deleted, and the emails have been retained in the official account in conformity with records preservation laws and rules,” Mirijanian said in his statement.

--With assistance from Justin Sink.

To contact the reporter on this story: Alyza Sebenius in Washington at asebenius@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alex Wayne at awayne3@bloomberg.net, John Harney, Karen Leigh

©2018 Bloomberg L.P.