Obama Secret Email Accounts Used by Top Government Officials
New reports are emerging that some of President Obama's political appointees are using secret email addresses in an effort to keep their accounts free from mass undesired messages.
The report of the secretive email accounts came about after The Associated Press conducted a review of the president's political appointees, which included the Cabinet secretary for the Health and Human Services Department.
There is no word yet as to how many government officials are currently using non-disclosed email accounts. A majority of agencies have yet to make those lists public months after the AP requested the information. The news giant submitted an application for those documents under the Freedom of Information Act several months ago.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
The desire for the AP to review those email accounts came after it was revealed last year that the former administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency had used separate email accounts at work.
There is no problem with officials using non-government email accounts for personal reasons, but officials have been known to use personal email accounts for work which can conflict with federal laws.
The problem that arises from using non-disclosed, personal email accounts for matters related to use in an official capacity is that it conflicts with federal laws requiring a majority of federal records be preserved. This is not always possible with officials using personal email accounts who then leave certain agencies or transfer to others.
It can also have an effect during investigations knowing that documents may go unaccounted for given the undisclosed nature of personal email accounts.
"What happens when that person doesn't work there anymore? He leaves and someone makes a request (to review emails) in two years," Kel McClanahan, executive director of National Security Counselors, an open government group, told AP.
"Who's going to know to search the other accounts? You would hope that agencies doing this would keep a list of aliases in a desk drawer, but you know that isn't happening," he added.
