House Oversight readies subpoenas for White House aides' personal email, text messages
by Naomi Lim
| July 25, 2019 12:08 PM
The House Oversight Committee on Thursday inched closer to subpoenaing personal email and text messages sent by key White House officials.
The panel voted 23-16 along party lines to authorize subpoenas for all presidential records sent to or received by non-career aides, such as White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, via private email, text message, mobile messaging apps, and encrypted software that were not forwarded to their government accounts since President Trump's inauguration.
House Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings said the documents "belong to the public," according to the Presidential Records Act of 1978, enacted after the Watergate scandal.
"It is the law," the Maryland Democrat said, adding it prohibits the use of personal platforms unless information is forwarded to official accounts in 20 days.
The prospect of subpoenas escalates the fight between Cummings and the Trump administration as he leads oversight efforts in the House. Cummings claims Trump staffers have stymied his investigation.
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https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/house-oversight-readies-subpoenas-for-white-house-aides-personal-email-text-messages
