Democrats are planning an investigation into Ivanka Trump after she reportedly used a personal email account for government business.

Elijah Cummings, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, said the panel would investigate White House communications when his party take over the US House of Representatives in January.

"We plan to continue our investigation of the presidential records act and federal records act, and we want to know if Ivanka complied with the law," his office said a statement.

A probe into White House correspondence began last year but was dropped by Republicans who currently control the committee, the statement added.

Democrats are taking over following their election gains earlier this month.


Image: Ivanka was appointed by her father, US President Donald Trump

On Monday, the Washington Post reported that the US president's daughter used her personal email account for government business up to 100 times last year.

The top White House adviser sent emails to aides, cabinet members and Ms Trump's assistants, many in violation of public record rules, the paper said.

Use of a personal account for government business could potentially violate a law requiring preservation of all presidential records.

Mr Trump, a Republican, repeatedly criticised his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election over her use of personal email and private server while she was the US secretary of state.

He labelled her "crooked Hillary" and said she belonged in jail.

Ms Clinton blamed her defeat on then-FBI director James Comey re-opening an investigation into her emails 11 days before the election.

She was eventually cleared of any crime.

The White House has not responded to questions about Ms Trump's email use.

However a spokesman for Ms Trump's lawyer, Abbe Lowell, did not dispute the report.

"While transitioning into government... Ms Trump sometimes used her private account, almost always for logistics and scheduling concerning her family," said the spokesman, Peter Mirijanian.

He said that it was different from Ms Clinton's case because there was no private server and none of the messages contained classified information.

The White House began reviewing senior aides' email use last year following reports that Ms Trump's husband Jared Kushner, also a top White House adviser, used private email for government work.

Ms Trump's emails came to light when White House officials began reviewing them in response to a lawsuit from watchdog group American Oversight, according to the Post.

US Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat on the Senate Judiciary panel, said there was "no way" Ms Trump did not know the rules after the 2016 campaign.

He said there were larger questions regarding the Trump family's mixing of private enterprise and government duties.

"It raises the issue of whether there has been anything improper. There should be some kind of investigation," Mr Blumenthal told CNN.