President Barack Obama’s Twitter account, once considered a treasure trove of news, was used by a top aide to help promote his re-election bid, according to an investigative report published Thursday.
The report by The Washington Post paints a picture of a presidential communications operation that has come under scrutiny in recent months after the FBI raided the president’s New York home in January.
It also suggests the president may have shared personal information, including his address and phone number with top aides, for the purposes of political campaigning.
The president’s staff did not respond to requests for comment.
The report comes amid a growing chorus of criticism from Democrats and Republicans about how the president and his top aides have handled the scrutiny of their private social media accounts, particularly the president.
In recent months, lawmakers have pressed the president to provide more transparency about how his aides use his personal information.
Obama’s aides have largely resisted demands from Democrats to release any of his campaign finance data.
The Washington Times reported that the president is currently using a personal Twitter account to promote his reelection bid, and the president has been tweeting daily.
Obama’s White House has faced growing scrutiny in the past year as investigations into the conduct of his aides and the extent to which they have engaged in political activity have continued.
An internal memo circulated among the president, aides and other senior officials on Capitol Hill suggested that the administration’s political messaging efforts could be under siege.
The White House is trying to maintain a positive image in the face of political attacks from Republican lawmakers, according the memo, which was obtained by the Post.
But the memo also noted that some Democrats in Congress, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., are raising concerns about the administration.
The memo was circulated among White House staff after several members of Congress called for an investigation into the administration in a letter last week.
In the memo dated Jan. 29, an official in the office of Chief of Staff Denis McDonough, D.C., suggested that it would be appropriate to set up a separate account for the president for fundraising.
That was not what the president was using at the time, the official said.
The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly, told the Post that the White House was using the account for political purposes.
“We don’t know if the president used it for political fundraising, but we do know that it was used for fundraising and for the White Houses office,” the official told the paper.
According to the report, McDonaughey asked staffers to set aside the president tweets and to make sure they were all private, and to not share the tweets with the public.
He suggested that those using the president account should not be identified, the paper reported.
The anonymous official told reporters that the office is investigating whether there were any violations of the Hatch Act.
Pelosi said the administration should be held accountable for any actions that violate the Hatch act.
At the time of the memo’s distribution, the administration had only about 50 followers on the president Twitter account.
White House officials have said that the tweet account was created by a member of the presidents inner circle.
In a tweet late Thursday, a senior White House official called the tweet “the first public indication” that the account was operated by the president himself.
But in a follow-up tweet, the White the official reiterated that it wasn’t him, but rather a former aide.
Earlier Thursday, the president issued a statement saying that he had not used his personal account to engage in political activities, including fundraising.
He also reiterated his commitment to transparency and said that he would share his own information with Congress, though he would not disclose the information to the public in his own capacity.
“It is vital that we keep our administration focused on achieving results in the fight against the opioid epidemic, and I am committed to doing so,” he said.
“I will be transparent about my personal email account, and will work with the @PressSec and @OfficeofGovSec to help them do the same.”
The president has said that in the days leading up to the Jan. 28 raid on his home, he and his aides discussed using his personal Twitter and Facebook accounts to help organize the campaign.
During a January phone call with a top White House adviser, he was told that the campaign’s email list was being circulated and that the Twitter account would be used to coordinate the campaign, according a memo obtained by The Post.
Several people close to the president said the use of his personal accounts by his aides was routine.
The people spoke on condition of privacy because they were not authorized by the White.
A senior administration official confirmed that the email lists were being circulated among senior aides, but said the president did not use them.
When asked about the email list, a White House spokeswoman told the Washington