John Kerry used government email alias as secretary of state, whistleblowers say

Former Secretary of State John Kerry used a pseudonymous government email address while serving as the nation’s top diplomat during the Obama administration, whistleblowers told Sens. Chuck Grassley and Ron Johnson. 

Fox News Digital obtained a letter Grassley, R-Iowa, and Johnson, R-Wis., sent to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, demanding answers on whether Kerry properly complied with federal records law as secretary of state. 

Whistleblowers told Grassley and Johnson that Kerry used the email address ‘SESTravel1@state.gov’ while serving in his official capacity. 

‘We want to know whether then-Secretary Kerry properly complied with all federal records laws and regulations with respect to his official email communications and whether responses to relevant Freedom of Information Act requests have properly included that email address in productions to requestors,’ they wrote. 

The senators noted that they have been raising concerns about the State Department’s compliance — or non-compliance — with federal records laws since 2015, during the investigations into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s improper use of a non-government server for government business. 

They also noted that since July 2021, they have been raising concerns about President Biden’s use of a non-government email while serving as vice president — as well as pseudonymous government emails for ‘official business’ — and whether he complied with federal records laws. 

‘To-date, the Biden administration has failed to address Joe Biden’s compliance with federal records laws,’ they wrote. 

Meanwhile, the letter to Blinken comes just weeks after whistleblowers told Grassley and Johnson that Kerry and his State Department ‘actively interfered’ to prevent the FBI from executing arrest warrants on individuals illegally in the United States who were allegedly supporting Iranian financial efforts to develop weapons of mass destruction. 

Grassley and Johnson reminded Blinken of their questions about Kerry’s alleged ‘extensive, consistent, and successful interference and obstruction of the FBI’s efforts to arrest Iranian terrorists because of his desire to cement the failed Iran Nuclear Deal between the Obama/Biden administration and the Iranian government.’ 

Grassley also raised questions about Kerry’s alleged potential mishandling of classified information in communications with Iran’s Foreign Minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, after leaving office.

In their letter to Blinken on Monday, Grassley and Johnson are demanding answers on whether the SESTravel1@state.gov email address was actually used by Kerry and demanded all records from, to, or cc’ing that email address. 

They are also questioning whether Kerry complied with federal records laws and demanded the process the State Department used to store and archive his government email records. 

They also questioned if that email address was used only for official business, and if it was used to communicate with foreign government officials — specifically, whether it was used to communicate information related to the Iran Nuclear Deal. 

Grassley and Johnson gave Blinken until July 1 to respond. 

The State Department did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.