Top Democrat requests details of Kushner private emails

Senator Ben Cardin sent letters to US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and White House counsel Don McGahn on Tuesday, demanding more details about use of private emails by US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and daughter, Ivanka.
 
Kushner is a person of interest in the ongoing probe into Russia’s alleged intervention in the 2016 presidential election that yielded President Trump.
 
“In light of recent reports that multiple senior advisers in the White House have conducted official government business via personal email, I write to ensure that none of these communications involved foreign governments or diplomatic efforts,” the top Democrat on the foreign relations panel said.
 
The Jewish presidential son-in-law has also been tapped as a negotiator in the Middle East affairs.
 
“[I]t is important that any communications that may have occurred over private email or via other non-governmental platforms are appropriately preserved and secure,” wrote the Maryland Democrat. “In particular, Mr. Kushner’s active role in arranging meetings and engaging in diplomacy, both in public and private, coupled with his use of unofficial email, raises questions as to whether any communications regarding representatives of foreign governments occurred through unofficial channels and could have been compromised.”
 
He further noted that Kushner is “notably among” Trump's aides who not only have used personal accounts to communicate but have also “met with representatives of foreign governments, traveled abroad on official business, and carried out public diplomacy on behalf of our country.”
 
Cardin gave Tillerson and McGahn until October 17 to declare if they are aware of any communications involving White House embassy or foreign officials through unofficial channels.
 
Kushner’s account was apparently set up during Trump’s 2016 transition to power despite the New York billionaire’s repeated accusations against his Democratic contender, Hillary Clinton, for using a private email server as the former US secretary of state.
 
Clinton has come under the Republicans’ fire over using a private email account and server at her home in New York for official emails when she was America's top diplomat between 2009 and 2013.