Clinton isn’t first senior government leader to use personal e-mail for official business

Hillary Rodham Clinton was not the first senior government leader to conduct official business on personal e-mail, a practice that -- while discouraged -- apparently became widespread enough that Congress tightened rules on its use late in 2014. The Federal Records Act prohibits official business on private e-mail accounts unless the communications are copied and turned over to the National Archives within 20 days. The new oversight is part of the government’s evolving policy on how to archive the massive volume of electronic communications created in a digital age of e-mail, tweets and Instagram.