The use of private email accounts by Obama administration officials to avoid public records has been well documented, but just how widespread the problem is may come as a surprise.
In an email to Clinton campaign chair John Podesta, a former top State Department official acknowledged that every White House staffer and top cabinet official uses their private email for work-related matters.
“Btw you know as well as I every god damn cabinet officer and WH staff uses [their] gmail account!” wrote Tom Nides, the former deputy secretary of state for management and resources, in a March 2015 email to Podesta, which was released by WikiLeaks.
Of course, Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email and private server is now the most well-known example, but it’s been an issue at the IRS and the EPA, among other agencies.
Nides also offered Podesta a bit of advice on how to handle Clinton’s email problems.
“For what it’s worth. There is only one thing that needs to be done on this email thing. (Which I am sure nobody wants to do). Get a state dept career lawyer to go through all the emails and pull the official ones. I know all the reasons not to do it but it’s going to happen so we should do it,” he wrote.
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