The 48th vice president of United States and former governor of Indiana, Mike Pence, utilized a personal AOL account to transact an official business when he was still a governor, based on the public records. There was a time the account was hacked. The hacker then sent phony emails that sought money among his contacts.
The Indianapolis Star reported that Pence used the account to interact with consultants regarding issues such as Indiana's homeland security and safeguarding the governor's mansion, according to NPR.
The said account acquired 29 pages of email documents from the office of the present governor, Eric Holcomb, which responded to a request regarding public records, disclosed The Star.
Almost a year ago, both Pence and Donald Trump frequently denounced Hillary Clinton for using a private server and a personal email for State Department business in the 2016 presidential campaign. In fact, on September Pence attended on Meet the Press, there he iterated that Clinton kept her communications out of the public reach, out of public accountability.
In October, in the course of a vice presidential debate Pence hinted at concerning the security of using unofficial systems. He asserted that foreign governments were hacking Clinton's email server.
It was noted that earlier that year Pence's own email had been hacked. Private email accounts are usually less secure than government accounts and are not preserved for use in public records in the same way.
The Star revealed that before Pence was preferred as Trump's running mate, his email was already hacked. All in the contacts list received emails which claimed that the governor and his wife were stranded in the Philippines, so they needed money.
Marc Lotter, Pence spokesperson said that for a better protection, the governor then altered a distinct AOL account. But, he ceased using the account when he took over the as vice president, reported the Associated Press.
As stated in the Indiana law, public officials are permitted to use personal email accounts. However, it was noted there that as generally interpreted, to obligate officials in the public to save emails related to business so to follow open records laws.
On Thursday, the office of the vice president stated that "Pence never violated any laws", cited The Star. Like the previous governors, Mr. Pence had absolutely abided Indiana law concerning the use and retention of email. The former governor's email had been administered according to Indiana's Access to Public Records Act.
In conclusion, Lotter unveiled the Star that comparing Pence to Clinton is absurd, for the reason that Pence never managed classified information on the federal level as governor, as stated by ABC. He reiterated that Pence had utilized a publicly available email service. Clinton had a home private server, while Pence had none.