Caroline Kennedy, the U.S. Ambassador to Japan, used private email accounts to conduct official State Department business, sometimes sending information labeled “sensitive but unclassified,” NewsMax is reporting .
The use of personal email accounts for government business has become something of a campaign issue of late as Democratic candidate for president and former Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, is dogged by allegations of impropriety – and possible criminal acts – related to her use of private email accounts for government business.
However, Hillary Clinton is not the only bureaucrat now known to have used personal email accounts for government business. A review by the Inspector General’s office, conducted between January and March of this year, found several instances of “sensitive but unclassified” information being sent to and from private email accounts at Caroline Kennedy’s office in Tokyo, according to MSN .
At least some of the emails contained information that the FBI would consider “Top Secret.”
According to the Inspector General’s report, State Department employees are not expressly forbidden from using private email accounts, but they must do so sparingly.
“Employees are also expected to use approved, secure methods to transmit sensitive but unclassified information when available and practical.”
Inspector General’s Office spokesperson John Kirby explained the rules further, speaking to reporters.
“It is highly, highly discouraged to send [by private email] information that you think is sensitive but unclassified. You can do it if there’s no other viable means of communicating the information, and you take the proper steps to make sure that it’s recorded back into the government system.”
However, the report does not suggest that the actions of Caroline Kennedy or any of her staff in Tokyo constituted a significant data breach or a violation of State Department policy.
Regardless, the report did point out some ongoing issues at Kennedy’s post besides just her email use, according to The New York Times . Besides security vulnerabilities demonstrated by the email account issue, Kennedy’s office also appears to have communication problems between staff and upper management dating back to Kennedy’s appointment to the post in 2013.
“Embassy staff members lack the guidance they need to make day-to-day decisions on optimal allocation of limited U.S. government resources.”
Kennedy is hugely popular in Japan, and her status as a “celebrity” has put the Ambassador in demand across the Asian nation, straining the State Department’s resources allocated to the post.
As of this time, Caroline Kennedy has not responded to the Inspector General’s report.
[Image courtesy of Getty Images/ Atsushi Tomura ]
