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ANOTHER senior Biden official under fire for 'using a pseudonym' on emails as Republicans launch probe

5 months ago 16

By Jon Michael Raasch, Political Reporter On Capitol Hill, For Dailymail.Com

Published: 20:48 BST, 18 June 2024 | Updated: 20:48 BST, 18 June 2024

Whistleblowers revealed that former Secretary of State John Kerry used a secret email address while serving as the nation's top diplomat under President Obama. 

The allegations mean Kerry, who served as President Biden's climate envoy, is yet another top Democrat official who has used a secret alias.

Then-Vice President Biden sent or received 82,000 pages of private email exchanges through three accounts using fake names while in office.

Hillary Clinton, when she served as Secretary of State under Obama, also was famously embroiled in a scandal for storing top secret files on a personal web server.

The whistleblowers uncovered Kerry's secret email to Republican Sens. Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin. The two are now demanding Secretary of State Antony Blinken take action on the allegations.

Whistleblowers allege that Kerry used a secret email while serving as Secretary of State

'We want to know whether then-Secretary Kerry properly complied with all federal records laws and regulations with respect to his official email communications and whether responses to relevant Freedom of Information Act [FOIA] requests have properly included that email address in productions to requestors,' the lawmakers wrote to Blinken.

'It's our understanding that then-Secretary of State John Kerry used the email address 'SESTravel1@state.gov,'' the letter continued. 

The two Republicans claim the secret email address would have avoided FOIA requests that are in place to ensure transparency of federal records. 

They also provided what they argue is precedent for Blinken to take action - former Obama officials like Clinton and Biden that have since been probed for their handling of documents and use of a secret email address.

'Since 2015, we have raised concerns about the State Department's compliance with federal records laws in light of Secretary Clinton's improper use of a non-government server for government business, in which she caused the mishandling of highly classified information yet was still exonerated by the Obama/Biden administration's FBI,' Johnson and Grassley wrote.

'Since July 2021, we've also raised concerns about then-Vice President Joe Biden's use of non-government email and pseudonymous government email for official business and his compliance with federal records laws. To-date, the Biden administration has failed to address Joe Biden's compliance with federal records laws.'

This image, provided by Sens. Grassley and Johnson, shows Kerry's secret email 'SESTravel1' responding to an email to State Department official Victoria Nuland. Nuland refers to her 'boss' which at the time could have been Kerry

After receiving the whistleblowers complaint, Sens. Johnson and Grassley sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken asking he investigate the matter

The Republicans in their letter note how Joe Biden also used a secret email while he served as vice president under Barrack Obama

The GOP lawmakers also noted in their letter to Blinken how Hillary Clinton used a private email server to store federal documents

The new complaint comes weeks after Grassley and Johnson revealed another whistleblower complaint alleging that Kerry quashed FBI investigations into individuals affiliated with Iran's nuclear program to enhance U.S.-Iran relations at the time.  

'The records provided to our offices show that the Obama/Biden administration's State Department, under the leadership of John Kerry, actively and persistently interfered with FBI operations pertaining to lawful arrests of known terrorists, members of Iranian proliferation networks, and other criminals providing material support for Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs,' the senators wrote in a May 22 joint statement. 

'The records also show that DOJ and FBI leadership apparently allowed it to happen until the Trump administration altered course.'

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, has had a history of working with federal whistleblowers

The letter Grassley and Johnson sent to Blinken Tuesday asked the secretary to turnover any documents from or to the 'SESTravel1@state.gov' Kerry allegedly used. 

They also demanded to know whether correspondence from Kerry by that email were included in FOIA requests regarding his role as chief U.S. diplomat. 

The Republicans requested a response by July 1. 

The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

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