Lawmakers demand details on Trump staff’s private emails

WASHINGTON—Leaders of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee want answers from President Donald Trump about his staff’s emails. Following reports that White House adviser Jared Kushner used a personal email address for government work, Reps. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., committee chairman, and Elijah Cummings, D-Md., the committee’s ranking member, wrote a letter Monday asking the White House for clarification. Gowdy and Cummings requested Trump disclose the names of any senior White House officials who use a private email address for official work and to identify any accounts and cell phone numbers that could have been used to transmit sensitive information. They gave Trump an Oct. 9 deadline. “With numerous public revelations of senior executive branch employees deliberately trying to circumvent these laws by using personal, private, or alias email addresses to conduct official government business, the committee has aimed to use its oversight and investigative resources to prevent and deter misuse of private forms of written communication,” Gowdy and Cummings wrote. The letter shows lawmakers on both sides of the aisle take their oversight role seriously. Last year, Republicans conducted multiple inquires into Hillary Clinton’s email use during her tenure as secretary of state. Democrats accused Republicans of conducting a witch hunt.