WASHINGTON \u2014 The Pentagon has released a batch of emails improperly sent by Secretary of Defense Ash Carter from a personal email account, revealing concerns at the White House about leaks and discussions from Carter about future appointees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 27 emails were sent during April of this year, two months after Carter took office. They do not cover the entirety of Carter’s improperly sent emails, but rather were the answer to a New York Times Freedom of Information Act request.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Times revealed Wednesday that Carter had used his personal email on his iPad and iPhone to send work-related discussions to top aides, including then Chief of Staff Eric Fanning \u2014 currently Carter’s nominee for secretary of the Army \u2014 and former military aide Lt. Gen. Ron Lewis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
Speaking in the Gulf on Thursday, Carter acknowledged he made a mistake with the emails and said the process has been ended. The White House became aware of the issue in May, according to the Times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So what are in the April emails? The focus is largely on speaking engagements and logistics. One email sent to Fanning and titled “Paying for Dinner?” contains only the word “How?” in the body.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One email indicates the White House was very concerned about information leaks around April 30. Titled “Call tonite,” Carter emails Fanning and Lewis, apparently to arrange a call with a redacted name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hours later, Carter sends an email saying, “Call was made by boss,” perhaps referring to President Barack Obama given the chain of command. “Find a way for me to make a quiet call to [redacted] in morn. In meantime, stand down all else. WH very\/very touchy re leaks (Colburn called them which set off opsec alarms.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The “Colburn” in mention is likely Brent Colburn, who served as assistant to the secretary of defense for public affairs before stepping down in July to pursue other opportunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In one, Carter asks his aides not to destroy a “burn bag” right away because he accidentally left some notecards in it. In another, he debates whether he should do an interview with Charlie Rose of PBS and CBS, and mentions that he has gained input on potential candidates to be press secretary from “Wolf,” perhaps a reference to Wolf Blitzer of CNN.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Perhaps the most ironic part of the emails, given how this situation has played out, is a letter from a redacted name, which Carter passed on to aides, with a two-page statement attached from the Coalition for Open Security \u2014 a group which describes itself as trying to mitigate cyber risks and enhance secure information management.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Read the emails here:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The emails reveal concerns at the White House about leaks and discussions from Carter about future appointees.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":26356,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":10,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[10,16],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3222],"class_list":["post-19751","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cyber","category-it-networks"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"TYBVS4QJFNGHZESD2ABLQSLDTQ","arc_canonical_url":"\/2015\/12\/18\/pentagon-releases-first-batch-of-carter-emails\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n