In the wake of new reporting from the Washington Post detailing how Ivanka Trump had used a private email server to send and receive information relevant to her work within the White House, some critics have started to question whether her doing so is hypocritical — given that her father made much noise during the 2016 presidential campaign about his opponent’s own practice of doing the same thing.
But news sites across the web are noting one exception to reporting that questions the similarities — Fox News, which appears to be downplaying the recent revelations.
Fox had “wall-to-wall” coverage of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server during her time in former President Barack Obama’s administration, reported Talking Points Memo . Much of that reporting was critical of Clinton doing so, but on Tuesday morning, following the report of Ivanka Trump conducting similar acts, it seemed that Fox was taking an approach that was markedly different.
TPM noted that there were four segments on the morning show Fox and Friends , for instance, that described Ivanka Trump’s use of a private email service. Each of those segments lasted for less than 25 seconds, and didn’t have any follow-up from the hosts of the program.
Ivanka Trump, daughter and adviser of the president, reportedly sent hundreds of emails to government officials through a personal email account last year. https://t.co/oC4Ez2UXHZ
— NPR (@NPR) November 20, 2018
The news site Splinter also noted the lack of criticism against Trump. According to their report, the only news item that Fox News gave in reference to the new controversy which even suggested that it was problematic came in reference to what Ivanka’s lawyer had to say about the matter.
The Washington Post reported on Trump’s emails on Monday, noting that an investigation into her email habits over the past year revealed she had sent hundreds of correspondences to cabinet members, White House aides, and her own assistants using a private server. Under federal rules, that’s a breach of protocol, as such information could be classified and could easily be “hacked” by third parties interested in obtaining government secrets.
A spokesman for Abbe Lowell, Trump’s lawyer, declared that Trump was simply confused about policies regarding use of private email programs to send and receive information related to government work — despite the fact that her father, President Donald Trump, frequently made criticisms of Clinton doing so a plank of his campaign strategy, per reporting from HuffPost .
“While transitioning into government, after she was given an official account but until the White House provided her the same guidance they had given others who started before she did, Ms. Trump sometimes used her personal account, almost always for logistics and scheduling concerning her family,” Peter Mirijanian, a spokesman for Lowell, said in a statement.
Mirijanian also insisted that none of the emails Trump sent through the private server contained classified information. An independent audit has not yet been conducted or released to the public that confirms his statement.
