Former Secretary of State John Kerry used a pseudonymous email — just like former Vice President Joe Biden and Kerry’s predecessor Hillary Clinton — while working for the Obama administration, according to whistleblower disclosures made public by two Republican senators.
Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) sent a letter Monday to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, saying a whistleblower had informed their offices of Kerry’s “SESTravel1@state.gov” email address, which would violate federal record-keeping laws.
An attached email exchange in July 2016 between the address and Victoria Nuland, then the assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, shows her calling the recipient “Boss.”
“We want to know whether then-Secretary Kerry properly complied with all federal records laws and regulations with respect to his official email communications,” the GOP senators wrote, also citing potential evasions of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.
“Since July 2021, we’ve also raised concerns about then-Vice President Joe Biden’s use of non-government email and pseudonymous government email for official business and his compliance with federal records laws,” they said.
“To-date, the Biden administration has failed to address Joe Biden’s compliance with federal records laws.”
Biden, 81, exchanged up to 82,000 pages’ worth of private emails using the aliases “robinware456@gmail.com,” “JRBWare@gmail.com” and “Robert.L.Peters@pci.gov,” only a handful of which have been released from the National Archives.
House Oversight Committee chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) in December cited the heavily redacted emails, which involve correspondence with his son Hunter Biden’s business partners, as among “the most important” documents for the impeachment inquiry into the president.
Grassley and Johnson also noted to Blinken that they had “raised concerns” about former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s lack of compliance in using “a non-government server for government business” and “mishandling” classified information.
Clinton was investigated by Obama-era FBI Director James Comey, who determined in July 2016 she had been “extremely careless” and there was “evidence of potential violations of the statutes regarding the handling of classified information,” but did not recommend she be prosecuted by the Justice Department.
Last month, Grassley and Johnson queried the State Department about Kerry’s attempts during the Obama administration to thwart FBI attempts to arrest “known terrorists” on US soil who were linked to Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
They asked again in their Monday letter whether Kerry condoned the efforts “because of his desire to cement the failed Iran Nuclear Deal,” known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
The senators have demanded answers about the pseudonymous email address — including any records related to it and whether Kerry conducted official State Department business using it — by July 1.
Grassley and Johnson also requested information about whether the email address was used to communicate with foreign governmental officials, particularly about the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.
In 2021, Grassley had also probed whether Kerry divulged classified information to former Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif as part of a “shadow diplomacy” campaign during the Trump administration.
Kerry, as part of that effort, disclosed to Zarif covert Israeli military actions against Iranian interests in Syria, the New York Times reported.
Grassley requested the State Department Office of Inspector General investigate the matter following the report.
House Republicans in March also questioned whether Kerry privately discussed with Zarif potential sanctions against Iran levied by former President Donald Trump — a likely violation of the federal Logan Act of 1799.
The special presidential climate envoy left office in March — after releasing hundreds of metric tons of carbon dioxide flying worldwide on a private jet while trying to save the planet — to help with Biden’s re-election campaign.
Kerry, 80, was succeeded in his post by White House senior energy adviser John Podesta.
The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
