Despite the distinctions between Clinton's email practices and Trump's, the Post reported late Monday that administration officials were "alarmed." The paper quoted Austin Evers, the executive director of a liberal advocacy group, accusing the White House of "obvious hypocrisy."
The Presidential Records Act requires that all official communication by White House officials be archived, and Mirijanian said Trump already turned over all such communications from her personal account months ago for that purpose.
The Post acknowledged later in its story that Trump's actions "could have" broken that law, after initially citing officials as saying that she had in fact violated federal rules.
Mirijanian explained that Trump used her personal account "almost always" for logistics matters, as opposed to more sensitive information that could implicate other federal laws.
“Like most people, before entering into government service, Ms. Trump used a private email," he said. "When she entered the government, she was given a government email account for official use. While transitioning into government, until the White House provided her the same guidance they had to others who started before she did, Ms. Trump sometimes used her private account, almost always for logistics and scheduling concerning her family."
White House officials
have been aware since shortly after the beginning of the administration that Trump and Kushner had used private email accounts.
“The White House instructs staff to fully comply with the Presidential Records Act, and briefed staff on the need to preserve records,” a senior official told Fox News late last year.
Kushner used personal email in his first few months of the administration, Lowell confirmed to Fox News at the time. He said the emails usually involved news articles and political commentary. Lowell also said any non-personal emails were forwarded to Kushner's official account and "all have been preserved in any event."