# Senior members of the Trump administration are continuing to use personal email accounts **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 26, 2017, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senior-members-of-the-trump-administration-are-continuing-to-use-personal-email-accounts/778200 "2017-01-26T03:47:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Evil\_Economist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c89c15/32.png) [@Evil\_Economist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Economist)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2017, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senior-members-of-the-trump-administration-are-continuing-to-use-personal-email-accounts/778200/1 "2017-01-26T03:47:47Z")
During the election were you worried that Clinton was using a private email server? Well, worry no more. Trump has decided there’s [nothing wrong with that](http://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/01/25/trump_lieutenants_using_private_email_addresses/): Key advisors to the president, Kellyanne Conway and son-in-law Jared Kushner, as well as press secretary Sean Spicer and chief strategist Steve Bannon, all have accounts on the Republican Party’s [rnchq.org](http://rnchq.org) domain, and are continuing to use them in addition to their official government accounts, according to Newsweek. … We note that the same [rnchq.org](http://rnchq.org) domain was used by members of the Bush Administration, who were heavily criticized for having “lost” no fewer than 22 million emails when asked to hand them over to the presidential archives. It is also strongly suspected that the same domain and email server were compromised by Russian hackers during the presidential campaign. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2017, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senior-members-of-the-trump-administration-are-continuing-to-use-personal-email-accounts/778200/2 "2017-01-26T03:59:36Z")
Well, in their defense, Russia doesn’t need to actually hack any email servers in order to receive info from them. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2017, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senior-members-of-the-trump-administration-are-continuing-to-use-personal-email-accounts/778200/3 "2017-01-26T04:06:47Z")
Lock them up! Lock them up! ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2017, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senior-members-of-the-trump-administration-are-continuing-to-use-personal-email-accounts/778200/4 "2017-01-26T04:26:46Z")
Trump has a really obvious defense here: “No, they’re not. It’s not happening. Period.” ---
**Author:** ![ataraxy22](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ataraxy22/32/307_2.png) [@ataraxy22](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ataraxy22)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2017, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senior-members-of-the-trump-administration-are-continuing-to-use-personal-email-accounts/778200/5 "2017-01-26T04:29:25Z")
Trump is still using his person, non-secure Android phone too, per NYT. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2017, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senior-members-of-the-trump-administration-are-continuing-to-use-personal-email-accounts/778200/6 "2017-01-26T04:31:20Z")
Well they shouldn’t be using government accounts for non-government activities. Hilary’s problem was that classified information was transmitted on that server. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2017, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senior-members-of-the-trump-administration-are-continuing-to-use-personal-email-accounts/778200/7 "2017-01-26T04:31:33Z")
Meanwhile, the president is continuing to use the [same insecure Android phone](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/25/technology/donald-trump-phone-social-media-security.html) he used prior to achieving office. How is that OK? ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2017, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senior-members-of-the-trump-administration-are-continuing-to-use-personal-email-accounts/778200/8 "2017-01-26T05:11:07Z")
If they are doing party business they should be using RNC servers. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2017, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senior-members-of-the-trump-administration-are-continuing-to-use-personal-email-accounts/778200/9 "2017-01-26T05:20:19Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Lock them up! Lock them up! It’s OK if a Republican does it. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2017, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senior-members-of-the-trump-administration-are-continuing-to-use-personal-email-accounts/778200/10 "2017-01-26T05:24:44Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > If they are doing party business they should be using RNC servers. This seems accurate to me. Shouldn’t they use the RNC addresses for political RNC traffic and the .gov for official business? ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2017, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senior-members-of-the-trump-administration-are-continuing-to-use-personal-email-accounts/778200/11 "2017-01-26T07:16:01Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > Well they shouldn’t be using government accounts for non-government activities. > > Hilary’s problem was that classified information was transmitted on that server. That’s one way to put it. But the way you put it makes it seem like.Hillary was sending and receiving classified documents on that server. But was that true? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2017, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senior-members-of-the-trump-administration-are-continuing-to-use-personal-email-accounts/778200/12 "2017-01-26T13:39:19Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > That’s one way to put it. But the way you put it makes it seem like.Hillary was sending and receiving classified documents on that server. But was that true? Inadvertent but there were a small number of **UNMARKED** emails that got through. _Slight emphasis added for obvious reasons_ ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2017, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senior-members-of-the-trump-administration-are-continuing-to-use-personal-email-accounts/778200/13 "2017-01-26T14:00:27Z")
I never heard anyone explain _why_ a politician using their own email server was a bad thing. I’m struggling to think of cromulent reasons, personally. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2017, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senior-members-of-the-trump-administration-are-continuing-to-use-personal-email-accounts/778200/14 "2017-01-26T14:04:12Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > I never heard anyone explain _why_ a politician using their own email server was a bad thing. I’m struggling to think of cromulent reasons, personally. All government e-mails, classified or not, are supposed to be archived by the government. A personal server can get around that. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2017, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senior-members-of-the-trump-administration-are-continuing-to-use-personal-email-accounts/778200/15 "2017-01-26T14:12:59Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > All government e-mails, classified or not, are supposed to be archived by the government. A personal server can get around that. That makes sense but I still wouldn’t think it something justifying the level of outrage I saw coming out of the US. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2017, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senior-members-of-the-trump-administration-are-continuing-to-use-personal-email-accounts/778200/16 "2017-01-26T14:26:34Z")
Newsweek did its job well. The RNC has deleted the email accounts in question. Newsweek and other press outlets will hopefully follow up and make sure that Trump aides are using government accounts for official business. However, I would note that government officials can definitely have private email accounts. They just can’t do government business on them. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2017, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senior-members-of-the-trump-administration-are-continuing-to-use-personal-email-accounts/778200/17 "2017-01-26T14:27:05Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > That makes sense but I still wouldn’t think it something justifying the level of outrage I saw coming out of the US. This would be a good summary of a lot of Clinton-related scandals. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2017, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senior-members-of-the-trump-administration-are-continuing-to-use-personal-email-accounts/778200/18 "2017-01-26T14:28:16Z")
Not that one. If Trump’s team is using private email for government business, that’s very serious. ---
**Author:** ![Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/channing_idaho_banks/32/250_2.png) [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Channing_Idaho_Banks)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2017, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senior-members-of-the-trump-administration-are-continuing-to-use-personal-email-accounts/778200/19 "2017-01-26T15:54:58Z")
Also, the president is required by law to have an archive of all personal communication. not only work-related communication. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2017, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senior-members-of-the-trump-administration-are-continuing-to-use-personal-email-accounts/778200/20 "2017-01-26T16:07:18Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > That makes sense but I still wouldn’t think it something justifying the level of outrage I saw coming out of the US. You could say that the charges were… (•_•) / ( •_•)\>⌐■-■ / (⌐■\_■)… Trumped up. YYEEAAHH! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senior-members-of-the-trump-administration-are-continuing-to-use-personal-email-accounts/778200.md?page=2)