U.S. ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy used private email for business: report

U.S. Ambassador Caroline Kennedy and other senior officials at the U.S. embassy in Japan used private emails for official business, an internal investigator said in a report Tuesday.

According to a report by the Office of Inspector General of the State Department, a recent inspection on the work of the Tokyo embassy found that private email accounts were used to send and receive messages for official business purposes. The messages are also believed to contain sensitive, but not classified information, media reports said.

State Department spokesman John Kirby downplayed the "sensitive information" part at a daily press briefing, and told reporters that "the inspection report annotated that that was a potential issue," adding "the mission in Japan is implementing all the recommendations, including the recommendations with respect to email traffic as we speak."

Kirby said although Kennedy did "infrequently" use private email address, there was no indication that she violated department policy. "The use of private email is allowed for some governmental purposes as long as certain rules are followed," meaning the messages are then archived by the government.

"It is not prohibited to use private email. It is discouraged, obviously," Kirby said, "The ambassador did not violate department policy in the use of her email."

The inspection of the embassy's operations was conducted between January and March. Kennedy, the daughter of former U.S. president John F. Kennedy, has been ambassador to Japan since 2013.

The revelation comes in the midst of a department review of thousands of Hillary Clinton's emails that were sent and received from a private email account while she was secretary of state. The incident has prompted an investigation of the practice and cast a shadow over her presidential campaign. Enditem