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Blumenthal, House Oversight Dems Call for Official Investigation into Ivanka Trump

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In the wake of reports that Ivanka Trump used a personal email account to discuss government affairs, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal offered his support for an investigation into the matter.

The Connecticut Democrat told CNN anchor John Berman on Tuesday that the results of a recent White House review warranted such a probe.

Berman compared the allegations about Trump, the president’s daughter and a senior White House adviser, to similar claims surrounding Hillary Clinton’s email use during her tenure as secretary of state.

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Blumenthal echoed the sentiment expressed earlier in the day by the former legislative director for President Donald Trump.

“Marc Short has the right word for it: hypocrisy,” Blumenthal said.

Does this warrant an investigation?

He told Berman that there is “no way” Ivanka Trump was unaware of the law preventing such email use.

“But really, there’s a larger story here, which is the mixing of public and private as with her clothing brand and her public position, the blending and mixing of emails on her private account and public account,” he said. “And it raises the issue of whether there has been anything improper.”

He said the issue deserves “some kind of investigative effort” either “through the Office of Government Ethics or through the Congress.”

Berman noted that many Democrats felt the email issue was overblown as it related to Clinton, leading Blumenthal to offer some context to his call for an investigation.

“I think there are real challenges ahead on immigration, on infrastructure, on other issues like jobs and the economy that really have to be faced by this Congress,” the senator said.

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While he does not want to see lawmakers “driven apart by party or personal insults,” he said a Democrat-controlled House of Representatives must hold the administration accountable.

“Accountability and progress on the issues is not incompatible,” Blumenthal said. “And the principle person who has to be held accountable is the president of the United States and his self-dealing.”

He said legislators can investigate claims that the president is “putting himself above the law,” which he said appears to be what Ivanka Trump has done with her emails.

As for whether the younger Trump has violated the law, Blumenthal said that is “a question for us after we know more about the facts and the evidence.”

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Chris Agee is an American journalist with more than 15 years of experience in a wide range of newsrooms.
Chris Agee is an American journalist with more than 15 years of experience in a variety of newsroom settings. After covering crime and other beats for newspapers and radio stations across the U.S., he served as managing editor at Western Journalism until 2017. He has also been a regular guest and guest host on several syndicated radio programs. He lives in Phoenix, Arizona, with his wife and son.
Birthplace
Virginia
Nationality
American
Honors/Awards
Texas Press Association, Best News Writing - 2012
Education
Bachelor of Arts, Journalism - Averett University
Professional Memberships
Online News Association
Location
Arizona
Topics of Expertise
Politics, Entertainment




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