Fallin Addresses Use Of Private Email Account

For the first time in public, Gov. Mary Fallin denied any concerns or security risks about her use of a private email account to discuss officials state business.

“No. It's transparent,” she told reporters on Tuesday after being asked if she had concerns over security.

Her private account was discovered after a lawsuit filed by News 9 partner The Frontier and the Tulsa World.

The news organizations want the governor's office to release all communication surrounding the two botched executions of Clayton Lockett in 2014 and of Charles Warner in 2015.

But documents show the government failed to search her private account. Officials also waited close to two years to release some of the information and released heavily redacted and encrypted emails. One of those redactions pointed to a potential second private email.

In a response filed last week, Fallin said she and her staff used non-government accounts to "expedite the receipt of information and more efficiently perform her duties" as governor.

The private account is drawing comparisons to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her much publicized use of a private email server. In her response, Fallin said the comparison is flawed noting her staff frequently received emails from her private account by using official emails

The account is also raising questions about cyber security. The email address is a part of the Yahoo network recently the subject of a major hack with more than 270 million accounts were stolen.

Find the full story on The Frontier.