politics to go: jeff dunetz

Hillary ignored Blackberry warnings

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If she is elected president, Hillary Clinton would have access to the most sensitive secrets held by the government. The ongoing email scandal puts her suitability for that kind of access in question.

The latest revelation: The ambassador in charge of security in the State Department under Hillary, strongly recommended that she and her top aids avoid using blackberries.  The fact that this recommendation was ignored is just the latest example of how the presumptive Democratic Party nominee’s insolent attitude toward sensitive information.

Via a Freedom of Information Act court order, Judicial Watch received more than 50 emails, many marked “sensitive,”  revealing the internal State Department debate about the use of Blackberries by Clinton and her staff. These included a 2009 internal memo from the assistant secretary for diplomatic security that warned of “vulnerabilities and risks” of Blackberries in executive suites.

Not only did Clinton ignore warning by using her Blackberry in the executive offices, but she used it outside the friendly confines of Foggy Bottom. Making matters worse, documents released in August revealed Clinton’s Blackberry was not issued by the State Department and thus did not include government fire walls and other security application.

The key document in this latest batch of emails is a March 2, 2009, internal memorandum from Assistant Secretary for Diplomatic Security Eric Boswell, entitled, “Use of Blackberries on Mahogany Row.” Mahogany Row is government slang for the senior executive floor, a reference to the paneling of its walls.

In that memo, Boswell strongly advised that Blackberry devices not be allowed, especially for senior staff. Sent to Clinton and her Chief of Staff Cheryl Mills, the memo explains “the vulnerabilities and risks associated with the use of Blackberries in Mahogany Row considerably outweigh their convenience.”

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