Spokesman: ‘No idea’ when Obama first learned of Clinton’s email account

White House press secretary Josh Earnest said Friday he has “no idea” when President Obama first learned that Hillary Clinton exclusively used a private email account during her tenure as secretary of State. 

“I don’t have a whole lot new to shed on this,” Earnest said Friday during an Air Force One flight to South Carolina, where Obama will hold a town hall at Benedict College, a historically black school. “I have no idea when the president first learned.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised, however, if he had learned about that by reading the newspaper. The president has a lot of things on his plate. I’m not sure the details of a senior administration official’s email arrangement lands on the president’s desk with any regularity,” Earnest added. 

{mosads}Reports emerged Friday that the White House knew about Clinton’s private email account in August. The New York Times reported that Clinton aides gave the White House a heads-up about the initial report earlier this week that originally publicized the private email account.

Clinton aides have stressed that she has turned over emails for archiving and wants them released to the public.

Questions over Clinton’s use of a private email account have dogged the White House this week, with officials stressing the administration’s transparency policies without directly criticizing the presumed Democratic presidential front-runner. 

The Associated Press has reported Thursday that the White House counsel’s office was unaware of Clinton’s emails during her time at State.

Gawker editor John Cook tweeted Thursday that he had mentioned Clinton’s personal email address to Earnest, then-deputy press secretary, in 2013 in an inquiry about Clinton’s correspondence with an outside adviser.

Earlier Friday, White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett said that Obama has a “very firm” policy on emails, telling Bloomberg, “We establish the policy here, but then we leave it up to every single agency to determine how to adhere to that policy.”