Attorney General Jeff Sessions won’t be probing predecessor Loretta Lynch’s use of an email pseudonym – he engages in the same practice himself, Sessions revealed Tuesday.
Sessions told a House committee he sometimes uses an email pseudonym at work – just as his two most recent Democratic predecessors were shown to have done.
Sessions copped to the practice when a Republican House member was asking him about whether he would have to recuse himself from various potential investigations such as a probe of the dirty dossier.
‘As it relates to Loretta Lynch using the pseudonym Elizabeth Carlisle, are you recused on that matter?’ Rep. Matt Gaetz, of Florida, asked Sessions at the tail end of a hearing where he got grilled on his refreshed recollections of Trump campaign Russia contacts.
‘I don’t think so,’ Sessions at first responded.
WHAT SHALL WE CALL YOU? Attorney General Jeff Sessions told a House committee he sometimes uses an email pseudonym at work
Then, Sessions went back to the subject: ‘I would say in defense of Attorney General Lynch I use the same – I have a pseudonym also,’ Sessions said.
‘I understand all cabinet officials do and maybe some sub-cabinet officials do,’ he added. ‘She would probably have been following the advice of the Department of Justice. I’m just saying we have to be careful …’ Sessions went on to explain.
At that point, Gaetz cut him off. ‘I’m no longer interested in that,’ the lawmaker said.
Lynch’s use of a psuedonym for work was revealed only after her infamous Phoenix airport tarmac meeting with Bill Clinton shortly before then-FBI Director James Comey announced the decision not to charge Hillary Clinton over her email scandal.
Freedom of Information Act requests revealed that Lynch was corresponding with her press staff under that name. In one email that got released after lawsuits, Lynch thanked ‘all who worked on this issue,’ and signed it ‘AG.’
CALL HER LIZ: Former Attorney General Loretta Lynch’s used the pseudonym ‘Elizabeth Carlisle.’ The exact pseudonym was revealed only after the government produced documents about her infamous Bill Clinton tarmac meeting
Sessions revealed his email practice after being asked whether he would recuse himself from an investigation of former Attorney General Loretta Lynch’s use of the pseudonym ‘Elizabeth Carlysle’
Attorney General Eric Holder also was revealed to use pseudonyms. One of them was ‘Lew Alcindor,’ the birth name of hoops legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Before her, Attorney General Eric Holder also was revealed to use a pseudonyms. One of them was ‘Lew Alcindor,’ the birth name of hoops legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
He also wrote emails under the names ‘Henry Yearwood’ and ‘David Kendricks.’
The department has long argued that the practice is not nefarious and is done to protect the boss’s email.
Then-Justice Department spokesman Brian Fallon (who went on to work for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign where email was a daily topic) said in 2015 the reason was as a security measure, but that the emails were still preserved for purposes of public document requests.
‘As with many Cabinet officials, [Holder] does not use his given name in the handle of his email address,’ Fallon said then. ‘This practice is similar to using initials or numbers in an email address and helps guard against security risks and prevent his inbox from being needlessly inundated.’