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NATION/WORLD Friday, March 22, 2019 East Oregonian A7 Cummings concerned about Jared, Ivanka private emails and texts By CHAD DAY and JILL COLVIN Associated Press WASHINGTON — Ivanka Trump, the presi- dent’s daughter and a pow- erful White House aide, did not preserve all of her offi- cial emails as required by federal law, and her hus- band, Jared Kushner, used a messaging application to conduct U.S. business out- side government channels, the chairman of the House Oversight and Reform Com- mittee said on Thursday. Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., said in a letter to the White House that the use of private email accounts and the messaging application WhatsApp by senior admin- istration officials raises “security and federal records concerns.” Cummings said that Trump’s lawyer, Abbe Low- ell, told the committee that Trump doesn’t preserve offi- cial emails she receives in her personal account if she doesn’t respond to them. Cummings says that appears to violate the Presidential Records Act. But just hours later, Low- ell issued a letter of his own disputing Cummings’ char- acterization. Lowell said he was referring to Trump’s email use before September 2017 and that he told com- mittee staff that now “she always forwards official business to her White House account.” The dispute arose as Cummings also released information about Kushner’s use of WhatsApp and raised questions about personal email accounts used by other former senior White House aides to discuss a proposal to transfer U.S. nuclear power technology to Saudi Arabia. Cummings’ letter says Lowell told his staff that Kushner uses WhatsApp to conduct official U.S. gov- ernment business includ- ing by communicating with “people outside the United States.” When asked whether Kushner had ever used WhatsApp to discuss classi- fied information, Cummings said Lowell responded, “That’s above my pay grade,” and referred ques- tions to the White House and the National Security Coun- ActionAid via AP/Tendai Chiwanza In this photo provided by ActionAid and taken on Sunday, locals look at a damaged bridge after Cyclone Idai hit in Chimanimani, Zimbabwe. Cyclone’s death toll surpasses 500 in southern Africa AP Photo/Alex Brandon In this Sept. 25, 2017, file photo, Ivanka Trump stands before President Donald Trump signs a memorandum to expand access to STEM, science technology engineering and math, educa- tion, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington. cil, according to Cummings’ letter. Lowell said Kushner archives the messages he sends by taking screenshots of them and forwarding that record to his official White House email account or the National Security Council. In his response letter Thursday, Lowell stressed that he didn’t say whether Kushner used WhatsApp to communicate with for- eign leaders or officials. He said he also informed the committee that Kush- ner complies with all pro- tocols involving classified information. CNN reported last year that Kushner was commu- nicating with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Sal- man using WhatsApp. In a statement on Thurs- day, White House dep- uty press secretary Ste- ven Groves said the White House will review Cum- mings’ letter and “provide a reasonable response in due course.” The House committee’s investigation comes after Ivanka Trump last year dis- missed any comparison to the use of private email by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, which prompted an FBI investiga- tion and inspired the “Lock Her Up” chant at then-pres- idential candidate Donald Trump’s campaign rallies. While the top U.S. diplo- mat, Clinton sent thousands of emails using a private server set up at her home in Chappaqua, New York. The FBI found classified infor- mation in some of the emails that were sent or received on the nongovernment sys- tem, but federal authorities declined to pursue charges against Clinton. Last year, The Wash- ington Post reported that Ivanka Trump sent hun- dreds of emails about gov- ernment business from a personal email account to White House aides, Cabinet members and her assistant. The newspaper said many of those communications, during the early months of the administration, violated federal public records rules. In a previous written statement, Lowell spokes- man Peter Mirijanian has acknowledged that Ivanka Trump used private email while transitioning to a posi- tion in the White House but said that the emails were retained “in conformity with records preservation laws and rules.” He also noted that “there was never classified infor- mation transmitted” using her private email account. In an interview with ABC News last year, Ivanka Trump defended her use of a private email account, say- ing: “All of my emails are stored and preserved. There were no deletions.” In his letter, Cummings also singled out former White House chief strate- gist Steve Bannon and for- mer deputy national secu- rity adviser K.T. McFarland, questioning whether they preserved documents related to a proposal to transfer nuclear power technology to Saudi Arabia. That pro- posal is under investigation by Cummings’ committee, which is looking into infor- mation from whistleblow- ers who have said they wit- nessed “abnormal acts” within the Trump National Security Council involving senior White House officials who were pushing the plan. The committee found that McFarland used an AOL account to discuss the effort pushed by Trump friend Tom Barrack. It cites a Feb. 6, 2017, email between McFar- land and former national security adviser Michael Flynn. Bannon also received a Jan. 29, 2017, email from Barrack that Cummings said was a pitch of the plan sent to inform “Bannon’s offi- cial work relating to devel- oping ‘broader Middle East policy.’” Cummings is asking the White House whether these communications were prop- erly preserved. Robert Giuffra, a law- yer for McFarland, declined comment. A representative for Ban- non did not immediately respond to a request for comment. By CARA ANNA and FARAI MUTSAKA Associated Press BEIRA, Mozambique — A week after Cyclone Idai lashed southern Africa, flooding still raged as tor- rential rains caused a dam to overflow in Zimbabwe, threatening riverside pop- ulations. The confirmed death toll in Zimbabwe, neighboring Mozambique and Malawi surpassed 500 on Thursday, with hundreds more feared dead in towns and villages that were com- pletely submerged. Aid agencies and sev- eral governments contin- ued to step up their deploy- ments, with helicopters in short supply for hundreds of thousands of people dis- placed by the cyclone. Spokesman Herve Ver- hoosel of the World Food Program told reporters in Geneva of the “alarm- ing news” that the Marow- anyati dam in Zimbabwe was hit by heavy rains overnight, putting popula- tions in the region at risk. Zimbabwe’s defense minister said more than 120 bodies had been washed into neighboring Mozam- bique, where residents there buried them, and more bodies were still being recovered in rivers, raising the official death toll in the country to at least 259. “Most of the bodies were washed into Mozam- bique and because they were in a really bad state, they could not keep the bodies,” Defense Minister Oppah Muchinguri said, speaking in the eastern city of Mutare. “So they ended up burying them.” Mozambique’s environ- ment minister, Celso Cor- reia, who is heading up the government response team, said in Beira Thursday eve- ning that the confirmed death toll in his country was 242, with at least 142 injured and an untold num- ber still missing. “Don’t create panic,” Correia urged other gov- ernment officials as more updates on the devastation trickled in. He said some 65,000 people had been saved by rescue workers who plucked them from rooftops and trees, and 182,000 had been affected by the flooding. “Obviously all numbers are preliminary. ... They are changing every day, every moment,” Correia said, adding that the most wor- rying issue now was health, with cholera a major con- cern. He said a much bigger rescue and recovery mis- sion must be launched in the region of some 350,000 people, where many remain marooned on islands cre- ated by the floodwaters. It will be days before Mozambique’s inundated plains drain toward the Indian Ocean and even longer before the full scale of the disaster is known. Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi has said as many as 1,000 people could have died in his country alone, but even that huge number is likely to pale in comparison to reality, aid workers said. Florida man pleads guilty to mailing bombs to Trump foes By LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press Sayoc NEW YORK — A Florida man pleaded guilty Thursday to sending pipe bombs to CNN and prominent critics of Presi- dent Donald Trump in a wave of attacks that harmed no one but spread fear of political violence across the U.S. for days leading up to last fall’s midterm elections. Cesar Sayoc, 57, shackled at the ankles, briefly sobbed as he entered the plea before a New York federal judge. “I’m extremely sorry,” he said, speaking so softly that sometimes he was told to repeat himself. Though he said he never meant for the devices to explode, he conceded he knew they could. He could get life in prison at sentencing Sept. 12 on 65 counts, including 16 counts of using a weapon of mass destruction and mailing explosives with intent to Attorneys: 5 charged in terror case because they are Muslims kill. In exchange for his guilty plea, prosecutors dropped a charge that carried a mandatory life sentence. One charge carries a man- datory 10-year prison term that must be served in addition to his sentence on 64 other counts. Sayoc sent 16 rudimentary St. Anthony Provider Spotligh t Michael J. Brunsman, M.D. is now accepting new patients. By MARY HUDETZ Associated Press ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Attorneys for five people facing federal terrorism-re- lated charges following their arrests last summer in a New Mexico compound raid said Thursday their clients are being prosecuted because they are Muslims. “This case is about free- dom of religion, freedom of association and the right to bear arms,” said Billy Blackburn, an attorney for Subhanah Wahhaj, one of those charged. He and other defense attorneys said their clients are innocent of the charges. The five pleaded not guilty in federal court on Thursday to new charges that include conspiring to support planned attacks on U.S. law enforcement officers, mili- tary members and govern- ment employees. They have been in federal bombs — none of which deto- nated — to targets including Hil- lary Clinton, former Vice Presi- dent Joe Biden, several members of Congress, former President Barack Obama and actor Rob- ert De Niro. Devices were also mailed to CNN offices in New York and Atlanta. Obstetrics and Gynecology Education: Wright State University School of Medicine Board Certifi cation: Board Certifi ed American Board of Obstetrics & Gynecology Insurance Accepted: Most major insurances, Medicare, Medicaid The Albuquerque Journal via AP, Pool/Roberto E. Rosales, File This Aug. 13, 2018, pool file photo shows defendants, from left, Jany Leveille, Lucas Morton, Siraj Ibn Wahhaj and Sub- bannah Wahhaj entering district court in Taos, N.M., for a detention hearing. custody since August on fire- arms charges, which accuse them of conspiring to provide weapons and ammunition to Jany Leveille, one of the five and a leader of the group who is from Haiti and had been living in the country illegally. The group traveled in late 2017 from Georgia to New Mexico, where they built their compound in Amalia, which is just south of the Col- orado border. The area is dot- ted with some of the region’s signature “earthship” self- built homes. A raid and a subsequent search of the compound in August led to the discov- ery of 11 malnourished chil- dren, guns, ammunition, a firing range, and the remains of a 3-year-old boy who was the son of one of the suspects and had suffered from med- ical disabilities that authori- ties said went untreated. Special Services: Obstetrics and Gynecology Michael J. Brunsman, M.D. 3001 St. Anthony Way Pendleton, OR 97801 Call for your appointment today 541.966.0535 FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT WWW.SAHPENDLETON.ORG
