Pentagon chief Ash Carter on private email use: ‘Should have known better’

The head of the Home Armed Services Committee referred to as Thurs. for an inspector general assessment of Defense Secretary Ash Carter’s use of private email at the Pentagon, a practice exposed overnight & which Carter has referred to as a mistake.

“With all the public attention surrounding the improper use of personal email by other administration officials, it is hard to believe that Secretary Carter would exercise the same error in judgment”, McCain said in a statement Thursday morning.

Carter said he used an email program installed on his iPhone to handle “administrative work” briefly in the first few weeks of his tenure, which began in February – a violation of Defense Department rules.

McDonough wanted to ensure that Carter was following all federal laws and regulations governing email use, the official said.

Fueling those concerns is a new Pentagon report saying that the Taliban has been emboldened by the reduced us military presence in Afghanistan and attacks increased this year.

It was unclear how many emails Carter sent and received from his personal account, the Times said.

Carter made a one-day visit today to Afghanistan to assess the fragile security situation there.

In an interview with CBS, Carter however insisted that none of the communication was based on sensitive or classified content. He further said the communication that he made using personal email was immediately backed up for departmental record and to avoid any controversy in future. He noted that Carter’s personal account was rarely used for government business. because the Defense chief generally prefers phone calls or personal contact to email.

The lull in the fighting season that winter in Afghanistan typically brings will be an opportunity for Afghan forces to “reset and refit” as they prepare for the fighting season next year, a said a senior defense official.

Carter reportedly conducted a portion of his work via personal email, whereas the former secretary of state used a private server primarily to conduct business via email. Cook also said Carter stopped the practice, but Cook did not say when.

But the officials said that Carter emailed with his closest aides about a variety of work-related matters, including speeches, meetings and media appearances. In one such email, Carter discussed how he had mistakenly placed a note card in a “burn bag”, the Times reported.

Since 2012, Pentagon policy has been to prohibit all employees from using personal email accounts to conduct government business.

Clinton’s email practices were revealed in March. “I think it’s obviously a mistake, but to his credit, he owned up to it. He took full responsibility for it. And most importantly, actually, he’s taken the steps that are necessary to rectify it”, Earnest said. An inspector general has said there was classified “Top Secret” information on Clinton’s private account – having classified government material outside a secure government account is illegal – and the FBI is investigating.