Trump defends Ivanka, calls her personal email use 'very innocent'

US President Donald Trump has defended his daughter and senior adviser, Ivanka, amid calls for launching an official probe into her email use, saying her use of a personal email account in a government role was “very innocent.”

Speaking to reporters in Florida on Thursday, the US leader said Ivanka’s private email use had been “very innocent,” and nothing like that of his 2016 presidential rival, Hillary Clinton.

“There was not anything, just innocent emails. There were no classified emails. It’s another fake news story,” he added. “And she did transition out. Ultimately, she transitioned out from private [email] to government.”

The US president said he believed all his daughter’s email records were now with “the historical society” and insisted the situation was “much different than the other situation that I’ve talked about for a long time.”

The email scandal haunted Clinton for a long time and prompted a long-running FBI investigation that, although exonerated the former first lady from all criminal charges, ended up costing her the presidential race with Trump.

The then-Republican candidate used the email issue to hammer Clinton during the 2016 presidential campaign and Trump supporters still chant "lock her up!" at campaign rallies.

Trump’s remarks came days after the Washington Post revealed that Ivanka had violated federal records rules by sending “hundreds” of emails to government officials throughout much of 2017 via her personal email account.

PressTV-Ivanka caught using personal email for govt. work

The First Daughter is accused of discussing sensitive matters using her personal email account.

“That review revealed that throughout much of 2017, she often discussed or relayed official White House business using a private email account with a domain that she shares with her husband, Jared Kushner,” the newspaper noted.

Ivanka reacted to the revelation by claiming that she had not been entirely familiar with the records rules.

A spokesman for Ivanka’s private lawyer denied that his client had used her email for classified information but said she had used it for “logistics and scheduling concerning her family.”

“She did not create a private server in her house or office, there was never classified information transmitted, the account was never transferred or housed at Trump Organization, no emails were ever deleted and the emails have been retained in the official account in conformity with records preservation laws and rules,” Peter Mirijanian said.

“When concerns were raised in the press 14 months ago, Ms. Trump reviewed and verified her email use with White House counsel and explained the issue to congressional leaders,” the spokesman added.

Democratic lawmakers in the US House of Representatives have announced that they will launch in January an official investigation into Ivanka’s use of a personal email account to determine whether her act was in breach of federal law.

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