Guest Post by Jeff Bechdel
Newly announced DNC chair candidate, Labor Secretary Tom Perez, has a Hillary Clinton problem. As noted in The Hill this afternoon, Perez used a private email account while serving at DOJ, “an issue that became a flash point during his 2013 Labor confirmation hearing.”
As Perez begins engaging in a Clinton-Sanders proxy war with fellow DNC chair candidate Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN), the last thing he needs is a reminder about his past private emails scandals (34 violations of the Federal Records Act!) and the natural comparisons that draws between himself and Clinton (“I don’t have any recollection of having communicated via personal email on this matter,” Perez said).
America Rising, however, was happy to point out Perez’s Clintonesque ways:
Secretary Tom Perez is supposed to be the Obama-backed candidate that will save the DNC and lead it to victory in a post-Clinton world. Yet according to a groundbreaking new story from The Hill, if Secretary Perez were to win the DNC chairmanship, he’d be bringing some very Clinton-shaped baggage with him.
The Hill’s story exposes the fact that as Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Perez had email patterns that only Hillary Clinton would be proud of. Like Clinton, in the course of Perez’s official duties he made it a habit to use a personal email to conduct official business, violating the Federal Records Act:
“The House Oversight and Judiciary Committees, along with the minority staff on the Senate Judiciary Committee, launched an investigation. They found Mr. Perez had tried to cover up the quid pro quo and ‘likely violated both the spirit and letter of the Federal Records Act’ by using his personal email accounts to conduct official government business. The House subpoenaed his emails.”
All told Perez violated the Federal Records Act 34 times while working for the Department of Justice:
“What’s more, in a letter sent to Mr. Issa Wednesday, Peter J. Kadzik, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Legislative Affairs at Justice, responded to the subpoena and admitted Mr. Perez violated the Federal Records Act (which requires that federal business is archived) at least 34 times. The letter also suggested Mr. Perez used his personal email account almost 1,200 times for official government business.”
Perez even had a Clintonesque excuse when questioned by Congress about his unlawful email practices. Perez claimed that he did not have “any recollection” of sending 1200 emails from his personal account:
“In a March 22 interview with congressional investigators, Perez was asked whether he had ever conducted official business from his personal email account. Perez said: ‘I don’t have any recollection of having communicated via personal email on this matter.’”
Even when Congressman Elijah Cummings (D-MD) requested Perez turn over the work emails sent from his personal account, Perez still stonewalled Congress.
Hillary Clinton’s email scandal was one of the main reasons she lost the presidential election. After that fiasco, if the Democrats picked another person with a similar email scandal, it’d show they’ve learned nothing from their 2016 debacle.
Cross Posted from America’s Rising Pac
