GOP lawmakers: Ex-EPA chief may have broken sunshine laws

Vitter and Issa requested all correspondence from Jackson’s personal email account spanning the duration of her EPA tenure that “refer or relate” to official business.

The letter is a response to an email in which Jackson asked a Siemens official to contact her through her personal account. It is not clear whether any communication followed.

In the email, Jackson said, “P.S. Can you use my home email rather than this one when you need to contact me directly? Tx, Lisa.”

The development is the latest in a months-long saga regarding the agency’s email practices.

Jackson, who now handles environmental affairs for Apple, has come under fire from Republicans, watchdog organizations and conservative groups about the use of a “Richard Windsor” alias for a separate, internal EPA email account.

Such accounts, those parties said, might run afoul of public records laws if used to conduct official business. They worry those separate accounts wouldn’t be searchable in public records requests.

The EPA, which is under investigation by its Office of Inspector General regarding email habits, has defended the practice. They say it predates the Obama administration, and that it turns over all documents from those separate accounts in records requests.