As you may recall, Donald Trump catapulted himself into the White House in part by claiming that his opponent Hillary Clinton was not fit to be president because she sent e-mails from a private account as secretary of state. During the second presidential debate, the former real-estate developer told Clinton that if he won, she’d “be in jail” over her e-mail usage, claiming people’s “lives have been destroyed for doing one-fifth of what you’ve done,” that it was a “disgrace,” and that she “ought to be ashamed” of herself. At rallies across the country, his supporters would chant “Lock her up!” (a habit they haven’t yet shaken in the two-plus years since the election), cheered on by Trump, who dubbed Clinton “Crooked Hillary.” And at a rally in Florida, the president vowed that he would “ask to appoint a special prosecutor” to Clinton’s case, because “we have to investigate the investigation.” So you might say he takes the matter of sending e-mails about official government business from a personal account extremely, deeply seriously—so much so that no one in his inner or even outer circle would ever dream of doing such a thing. And, yet, look what we have here!
Incredibly, Ivanka, who positions herself as a serious businesswoman who actually belongs in the upper echelons of the executive branch, reportedly told aides that she had no idea the practice she was engaging in was frowned upon, saying “she was not familiar with some details of the rules.” (Maybe she had her headphones on during the hundreds of times her father shredded Hillary for doing the same thing, and made it a centerpiece of the campaign in which she played a key role!) Tellingly, not even Trump family lap dog Anthony Scaramucci, who can always be counted on to go to bat for 45 & co., isn’t even giving the First Daughter a pass:
X content
This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.
In a statement, Peter Mirijanian, a spokesman for Ivanka’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, told The Washington Post that, “While transitioning into government, after she was given an official account but until the White House provided her the same guidance they had given others who started before she did, Ms. Trump sometimes used her personal account, almost always for logistics and scheduling concerning her family.” Mirijanian also took pains to stress that what Ivanka did was totally different than H.R.C., because she never used a private server or deleted any e-mails.
Anyway, we assume the president will treat this e-mail situation with the same urgency and gravity as he did Clinton’s, and definitely won’t claim his daughter is a victim of the fake-news media that just wants to take her down because she’s beautiful.
— “Who gets to live in Victimville?” Why Monica Lewinsky decided to relive her past
— How millennial women flexed their political power during the midterms
— Why Democrats already have a 2020 problem
— What’s next for Saudi diplomacy?
— Snapchat is doing so badly, the feds are getting involved
Looking for more? Sign up for our daily Hive newsletter and never miss a story.