Use of Non-government Email Accounts for the Conduct of Public Business

SAA notes with concern the recent news that several current and former senior White House officials, including Senior Advisor to the President Jared Kushner, used private email accounts to conduct official public business. SAA is dismayed that this issue continues to plague public officials regardless of their political affiliation. Laws and regulations regarding public records are clear, as are the responsibilities of individuals entrusted with executing government functions. Use of unofficial, non-government email accounts rather than official government accounts violates the transparency and openness that the public requires from its government, makes it difficult to hold public officials accountable, unnecessarily mixes government and personal records, and ultimately jeopardizes the accessibility of the archival record by the American people. Read the Joint Statement on Conducting Public Business in Non-government Email Accounts (2015).