Washington, December 17 (RHC)-- U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter reportedly used a personal email account for work-related business, becoming the second senior official in President Barack Obama’s administration to be engulfed in e-mail scandal.

The New York Times reported Wednesday that it has obtained some 72 work-related e-mails that Carter sent or received from his personal e-mail account. Carter had been sending work-related e-mail messages on a variety of topics including speeches and meetings, for two months after he took office in February.

He, however, stopped using the e-mail account in March after it became public that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had used her personal account while she was secretary of state. Clinton’s decision to use a private server potentially put thousands of pages of State Department e-mail messages at risk.

"After reviewing his e-mail practices earlier this year, the [defense] secretary believes that his previous, occasional use of personal email for work-related business, even for routine administrative issues and backed up to his official account, was a mistake," Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook said in a statement.

“As a result, he stopped such use of his personal e-mail and further limited his use of e-mail altogether. He is confident that his work-related e-mail has been and will continue to be preserved within the federal records system," he added.