March 11--Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. has used three email aliases to conduct government business since he took office in 2009, a Department of Justice official confirmed to the Los Angeles Times.
All three of Holder's email addresses, including the one he uses now, are on the Justice Department's system, agency spokesman Brian Fallon said in an email.
"Meaning while his email address is not eric.holder@usdoj.gov, it is still preserved for recordkeeping, etc, because it is a DOJ account," Fallon said.
The announcement comes the same day former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton publicly announced she believes she did nothing wrong by using a personal email address for all her official government correspondence while in office.
Using an email alias is a common practice among high-ranking government officials, Fallon said in a statement.
"As with many Cabinet officials, he does not use his given name in the handle of his email address," Fallon said in a statement. "This practice is similar to using initials or numbers in an email address and helps guard against security risks and prevent his inbox from being needlessly inundated."
Holder's previous aliases were Henry Yearwood and David Kendricks, Fallon confirmed. His current alias has not been released.
The alias "Henry Yearwood" is a combination of his mother's maiden name and the first name of another family member, the Huffington Post reported. "David Kendricks" is a mashing of Temptations members David Ruffin and Eddie Kendricks, according to the Post.
Holder's alias addresses do not "impact compliance" with Freedom of Information Act requests, Fallon said.
"The attorney general's email address is known to the people who process Freedom of Information Act requests and his emails are regularly produced, albeit with his exact address redacted," Fallon said in a statement.
