White House press secretary Josh Earnest said Monday that President Obama exchanged email with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during her time in office and therefore through her personal email account.
"The president was referring specifically to the arrangement associated with Secretary Clinton's email," Earnest said. "Yes, the president was aware of her email address; he traded emails with her. That shouldn't be a surprise, that the president of the United States is going to trade emails with the secretary of state."
"But the president was not aware of the fact that this was a personal email server, and that this was the email address she was using exclusively for all her business," Earnest said. "The president was not aware of that until that had been more widely reported."
President Obama said Saturday in an interview with CBS News that he first learned that Clinton had used a personal email system for professional business through news reports. Whether Obama meant the existence of Clinton's personal email account or her exclusive use was not specified in the answer.
During the press briefing, ABC News's Jonathan Karl asked whether the White House would oppose an independent third-party examining Clinton's email server. "That's ultimate a decision for them to make," Earnest said.