Christie sent work email from private account
GOP presidential candidate Chris Christie has criticized Democrat Hillary Clinton for using a personal email server for official business, but the only identified email the governor turned over to the New Jersey Legislature last year in response to subpoenas came from a private email account.
{mosads}Christie’s email came from a Yahoo account, Democratic Assemblyman John Wisniewski, who led the investigation into the politically motivated lane closures on the George Washington Bridge, told The Hill.
In the email from December 2013, Christie tweaked a statement from an aide announcing the resignation of Port Authority official David Wildstein, who has since pled guilty for his role in the closures.
WNYC’s Matt Katz first highlighted Christie’s private email usage. The email and others were previously released, but the email address itself was redacted. Christie’s administration drew strong criticism in the state for using private email.
Christie has in recent days continued to go after Clinton, the Democratic presidential front-runner, for deleting emails from the private server she used while secretary of State.
“Can you imagine, if after the bridge investigation began, I came out and said, ‘Oh, I’ve done all my business as governor on a private email server. And, I’ve deleted now 30,000 of those emails. But, trust me, none of it had to do with the bridge.’ Give me a break,” Christie said last week on CNN’s “New Day.”
“It was in the public dialogue when we were doing this investigation in late 2013, early 2014,” Wisniewski said of Christie’s private email use. “It didn’t rise to the level of being significant until the issue of Hillary Clinton came up.”
Christie has said he maintains a private email account and that no law requires state business be conducted on government email, emphasizing that Clinton handled sensitive information and deleted some of hers.
A spokesman for Christie’s office, Kevin Roberts, acknowledged there is no published policy requiring employees exchange official email on state accounts.
He noted that confidential guidance to employees on email use is clear and thorough relating to generally using state-issued email accounts.
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