Vice President Mike Pence had a private email account, which was hacked last year. Picture: Alex Wong/Getty Images/AFP

Emails released to the Indianapolis Start in response to a public records request show Pence communicated via his personal AOL account with top advisers on topics ranging from security gates at the governor’s residence to the state’s response to terrorism attacks across the globe, the newspaper reported. Indiana law does not prohibit public officials from using personal email accounts, the Star said.

Pence’s office in Washington said in a written statement Thursday: “Similar to previous governors, during his time as Governor of Indiana, Mike Pence maintained a state email account and a personal email account.

“As Governor, Mr. Pence fully complied with Indiana law regarding email use and retention. Government emails involving his state and personal accounts are being archived by the state consistent with Indiana law, and are being managed according to Indiana’s Access to Public Records Act.”

According to USA Today, Indiana law does not prohibit public officials from using personal email accounts, although it’s generally expected that any official business conducted using these accounts is kept for public record purposes.

But throughout the last year’s presidential campaign, Pence attacked Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton over her use of a private server and email account while she was secretary of state, accusing her of trying to keep her emails away from the public eye and potentially exposed the information to hackers.

A Pence spokesman Marc Lotter reportedly said any comparisons between Pence and Clinton were “absurd”, noting that Pence did not deal with federally classified information while he was governor. He also noted that Clinton had a private server installed in her home, while Pence used a well-known consumer email provider.