Vice President Mike Pence may be taking tactical advice from his boss: As a conflict roiled between the Veep and the Associated Press, which published a story containing Pence’s wife’s private email address, he took to Twitter to call out the AP and demand an apology.
The AP was covering a story that’s been roiling the Indiana press — that Pence had used a private, AOL email address to conduct state business. On Friday, Pence turned over 13 boxes of printed emails in response to a Freedom of Information Act request.
The Indianapolis Star did not publish Pence’s private email, but multiple email accounts—including Karen Pence’s private address—appeared in the AP’s reporting, leading Karen to receive a torrent of “vitriolic and malicious” emails.
Pence was, of course, not happy, first Tweeting that “last night the @AP published my wife’s private email address, violating her privacy and our security…” and then publishing a letter from his lawyers to AP’s President and CEO.
The letter reads in part: “The publication of Mrs. Pence’s active private email address to millions of your readers has subjected her to vitriolic and malicious emails and raised security concerns. There was absolutely no reason to publish this private email address, and you should be ashamed of your reprehensible conduct.”
The AP told the Indianapolis Star that they removed the email address “from follow-up stories” after they learned the address was still active. They say they “stand by their reporting,” which covers “important transparency issues.”
