Phil Cross

The Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office confirms former Attorney General Scott Pruitt used private email for state business.

Attorneys within the office conducted the search of Pruitt’s private, personal email account and did not find any documents that had not been captured in the search of official Oklahoma attorney general accounts. Open government advocate and media professor Dr. Joey Senat said the state law regarding open records indicates that private accounts cannot be used to shield government officials from transparency laws. Senat said one of the weaknesses of Oklahoma’s law on open records relies on trusting public officials that they have conducted appropriate searches of private accounts. It is not illegal to use a private email account for state business, as long as those records are included in searches for public documents. However, the revelation is in direct conflict with Pruitt’s written and oral testimony before the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee during the confirmation process. Pruitt, who is now the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, told lawmakers he had never used private email for state business.

The Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office confirms former Attorney General Scott Pruitt used a private e-mail for state business. The information comes a week after it was first revealed the e-mails that appeared to be sent from Pruitt’s private e-mail account. The revelation is in direct conflict with Pruitt’s written and oral testimony before the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee during the confirmation process. Pruitt, who is now the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, told lawmakers he had never used private e-mail for state business.

Sen Cory Booker (D-NJ) asked Pruitt directly, “Have you ever conducted business using your personal e-mail accounts, nonofficial Oklahoma attorney general e-mail accounts, text messages, instant messenger, voicemails, or any other medium?” “I use only my official OAG [Office of the Attorney General] e-mail address and government-issued phone to conduct official business,” Pruitt replied.