DHS officials used private e-mail.

• Position: GOVERNMENT RECORDS - Department of Homeland Security - Brief article

Despite the department banning private e-mail on its computers in April 2014, top U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials have been using private e-mail from their work computers for more than a year, according to a top DHS official. Those top officials include Jeh Johnson, DHS secretary, and 28 of his senior staff.

The official also said that, despite the ban, top DHS officials were informally granted exceptions. When questioned, DHS's press secretary, Marsha Catron, confirmed it but said future exceptions are to be given by the chief of staff only. "Going forward," she said, "all access to personal webmail accounts has been suspended."

Johnson and the 28 other senior officials asked for and were granted informal waivers several times over the past year, the official said. Catron said exceptions were determined on a case-by-case basis by the chief information officer, Luke McCormack. DHS employees are permitted to use their government e-mail accounts for limited personal use.

It is uncertain whether any of the officials conducted DHS business on their private webmail accounts...