The use of the private account is evident from published documents, which show that De Jonge’s emails are from an iCloud account with administrators. A spokesman for De Jonge’s former ministry said there was a ‘personal consideration’ for the former Corona minister. The Ministry does not dare to rule out the possibility that information will be lost as a result.
MPs Lorenz Dassen (Volt), Jesse Claver (GL) and Peter Umtzegt asked Minister Bruins Slott for clarification on Monday. Did the Rutte III Government Health, Welfare and Sports Minister use an iCloud email address for his work as Minister, which appeared in Wob messages about the Corona Approach approach? The three groups want to know.
They want answers to their questions by Thursday morning at the latest. This is because discussion of the Sywert van Lienden mouthpiece deal is on the agenda. De Jonge also played a role in this. He previously said he was not involved in the deal, but applications released showed he had asked a senior official to contact Van Lienden.
The debate is sensitive in The Hague. The chamber is discussing this with Secretary Connie Helder (Medical Care), whose portfolio includes a face mask deal. But part of House would also like to ask De Jonge about the apps. There is increasing pressure on CDA members to show themselves only because of messages about the use of private email.
“Safe and complete”
Suspects are suspicious. That’s why we ask these questions. We want to know the details.” “We ask the ministers to abide by the law.”
The groups also want to make sure messages via De Jonge’s iCloud email address are stored “securely and completely” and made available for Wob requests and the parliamentary inquiry into Corona policy.
Omtzigt refers to a ruling by the State Council Administrative Judiciary Department from 2019. In short, this means that text messages and WhatsApp messages sent by ministers from their business and/or private phones fall under the Wob if these messages are sent. It was sent as part of the work.
In 2016, then-Minister of Economic Affairs Henk Kamp ran into problems after it was revealed that he frequently used his Gmail account at work. This was against government guidelines at the time. Current government evidence “strongly discourages” the use of a private email account or messaging apps for business-related purposes.
The three party leaders also want to know if other ministers from the past and current government use private email addresses and messaging services such as Signal, WhatsApp and Telegram for their work, and if so, who they are.