WASHINGTON — Vice President Mike Pence used a private e-mail account to conduct public business as Indiana's governor, according to public records obtained by the Indianapolis Star.

The newspaper reported Thursday that e-mails provided through a public records request show that Pence communicated with advisers through his personal AOL account on homeland security matters and security at the governor's residence during his four years as governor.

The governor also faced e-mail security issues. Pence's AOL account was subjected to a phishing scheme last spring, before he was chosen by Donald Trump to join the GOP presidential ticket. Pence's contacts were sent an e-mail falsely claiming that the governor and his wife were stranded in the Philippines and needed money.

The governor moved to a different AOL account with additional security measures, Pence spokesman Marc Lotter said, but has since stopped using the new personal account since he was sworn-in as vice president.

Lotter said Pence “maintained a state e-mail account and a personal e-mail account” like previous governors in the state. At the end of his term Pence directed outside counsel to review all of his communications to ensure that state-related e-mails were transferred and properly archived by the state, the spokesman said.

As Trump's running mate, Pence frequently criticized rival Hillary Clinton's use of a private e-mail server as President Barack Obama's secretary of state, accusing her of purposely keeping her e-mails out of public reach and shielding her from scrutiny.

Lotter said “the comparison is absurd” because Clinton had set up a private server in her home at the start of her tenure at the State Department and, unlike Clinton, Pence did not handle any classified material as Indiana's governor.

The newspaper reported that the office of Pence's successor, Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb, released more than 30 pages from Pence's AOL account, but declined to release an unspecified number of e-mails because they were considered confidential.

Public officials are not barred from using personal e-mail accounts under Indiana law, but the law is interpreted to mean that any official business conducted on private e-mail must be retained to comply with public record laws.

The state requires all records pertaining to state business to be retained and available for public information requests. E-mails involving state e-mail accounts are captured on the state's servers, but any e-mails that Pence may have sent from his AOL account to another private account would need to be retained.

At the end of his term, Pence hired a firm to review his communications.