News emerges of US Vice President’s use of private email server

World Today

News emerges of US Vice President's use of private email server

A day after the nation’s top attorney recused himself from investigations into Russia’s alleged role in U.S. elections, new reports reveal Vice President Mike Pence used a private email server that was hacked last year.

And now more Trump aides are admitting to meeting with Russian officials.

CGTN’s Jim Spellman reports.

Vice President Mike Pence used a private AOL email account to conduct official state business when he was governor of Indiana.

Last summer, that email account was hacked. It’s not clear who was behind the hack or if any sensitive material was taken.Pence denies any wrongdoing.

“We have fully complied with all Indiana’s laws. We had outside counsel review all of my private e-mail records to identify any e-mails that– that ever referenced or mentioned business– state business-related activities. And, as Indiana law requires, we transferred all of those to the state of Indiana, subject to the public access laws,” Pence said.

It’s not clear if Pence violated any policies or laws by using the private account.

During the U.S. presidential campaign, Hillary Clinton faced intense scrutiny for maintaining a personal email account on a private server while Secretary of State. In October Pence praised the FBI investigation into Clinton, tweeting, “No one is above the law.”

Meanwhile, the White House is in damage control mode after Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself from any investigations into Russian involvement in the U.S. election after it was revealed that he met with the Russian Ambassador at least twice last year despite past comments that seemed to indicate he had not.

More officials associated with the campaign have admitted meeting with the ambassador including Trump’s son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner.

Russia denies there was anything wrong with the Russian ambassador meeting with campaign officials.

“It all looks like a witch hunt,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.

There are growing calls for an independent investigation into the Trump Administration’s ties with the Russian government and some democrats are calling on Sessions to resign. But President Trump said Session has his full support.