My Outrage is Real

 

Someone I know very well recently told me that my outrage at Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server was “ginned up,” which according to the Oxford Living Dictionary means “generate or increase something, especially by dubious or dishonest means.” Clinton supporters are convinced that this whole thing is old news, a “mistake that she apologized for” and something we should move on from. As my critic said, they believe we have “ginned up” outrage over this affair to increase its importance and hurt Clinton’s electoral chances.

Well, let me tell you, my outrage is authentic – absolutely authentic. It has only grown more intense with the latest development in the case alleging that Huma Abedin, arguably Secretary Clinton’s closest aide, moved thousands, perhaps tens or even hundreds of thousands, of emails, possibly of a sensitive or even classified nature, to her home computer. As a military Veteran and national security professional who has held this nation’s highest security clearances for decades, who has been briefed and trained over and over about counter-intelligence, and who takes seriously the threat posed by hostile international intelligence agencies to America’s secrets, I am shocked that Mrs. Clinton’s wanton disregard for the most basic security safeguards, possibly to protect her illicit dealings, or as she claims “for convenience,” has placed our national secrets at such serious risk.

Everyone who holds a U.S. Government security clearance is required to take “Counter Intelligence” training courses on a regular basis. That training is filled with case studies of actual espionage incidents, like those I detail below, and it leaves an indelible imprint in every security professionals mind. Yes, espionage does happen, and more often than you would think. What we know is that hostile intelligence agencies are, in fact, active, and that they will exploit weaknesses in both systems (e.g. an email server) and individuals to get their hands on our secrets. Those we entrust with our security are required to protect this information at all times. To not do so is a crime.

Thirty years ago Jonathan Pollard, a Naval Intelligence analyst, was caught taking classified documents out of the Naval Intelligence Center by investigators who had been tipped off by his co-workers. He provided those documents to Israel, and admitted to “shopping” them to other national intelligence agencies. Classified documents were discovered in his home. He pled guilty and was sentenced to life in prison. He, and his wife Anna, who was accused of receiving classified information from Pollard for her business purposes, maintained throughout the ordeal that, although he received financial compensation for his acts, he did them because he felt “morally obligated” to do so in support of Israel.

Ana Belén Montes, an American citizen working for the Defense Intelligence Agency, was arrested and charged in 2001 with conspiracy to commit espionage. She pled guilty and was sentenced to 25 years in prison. According to federal charging documents, “Montes communicated with the Cuban Intelligence Service through encrypted messages and received her instructions through shortwave encrypted transmissions from Cuba. In addition, Montes communicated by coded numeric pager messages with the Cuban Intelligence Service by public telephones located in the District of Columbia and Maryland.” She, like Pollard, claimed she spied for philosophical reasons, and according to her lawyer did so because “she felt the Cubans were treated unfairly by the U.S. government.”

What was proven in the initial FBI investigation is that Secretary Clinton and her staff compromised emails by running them through her “homebrew” server and across unsecured networks. These emails reportedly contained information designated up to Top Secret and Top Secret Special Access Program (SAP). They were compromised, technically and legally, by the mere fact that they crossed unsecured networks.  Top Secret information is defined by the government as information that, if exposed, “could be expected to cause exceptionally grave damage to the national security.” SAP information, according to the Department of Defense (DoD), is that which is classified even beyond Top Secret, and is a designation only used to “protect the Nation’s most sensitive capabilities; information; technologies; operations; and research, development, test and evaluation…” The relevant DoD policy letter further states that “[a]ccess to a SAP will be strictly limited to the minimum number of personnel necessary for execution of the program. Granting access to a SAP will be based solely upon a determination that the individual has a valid NTK [“need to know”], has the requisite security clearance, meets approved personnel prerequisites, and will clearly and materially contribute to the execution or oversight of the program.” In case you haven’t caught on yet, the open internet is filled with people who obviously do not have a NTK.

Now we learn that in addition to those compromises, Ms. Abedin may have exposed those emails, or others like them, to further compromise by keeping an “insurance” copy of them on her husband’s home computer. This is the husband, it is worth noting, whose compromised personal life would be a classic target for blackmail if there ever was one, and his computer, one could guess, could very well have been a frequent visitor to sketchy websites. The sheer number of emails involved is amazing, rumored to be around 650,000, so the potential for further compromise is immense.  (Note: It has not been confirmed as of this writing that any of these newly discovered emails are classified, although odds are, given the discovery of classified emails previously, that some are.)

I am not asserting, as I have no proof, that Huma Abedin (or Anthony Weiner) was a willful participant in the transfer of this information to our enemies. But the mere transmission and storage of such information on a personal device is enough to put our nation at risk, and Wiener’s compromised position, his potentially compromised computer, and his access to these emails is all the evidence you need to be very concerned. If you believe that foreign intelligence agencies were not aware of both the relationship between Weiner, Abedin and our Secretary of State as well as his personal failings, well, think again. When you add in Ms. Abedin’s reported ties to various suspicious groups and individuals, and the opportunity for compromise runs even higher.

I don’t know if FBI Director Comey did the right thing in re-opening this email investigation so close to the election. Perhaps he was wrong, or perhaps he had no choice. In my opinion it is likely the latter, in that he had previously promised Congress to keep them informed about changes to the status of the investigation, a status clearly changed when the existence of this massive block of emails was discovered, unsecured and vulnerable, on Weiner’s computer.

Yes, my outrage is real, and yes, Hillary Clinton is ultimately responsible for this mess. Her unbelievably bad decision to set up a private email server with which to conduct sensitive and classified government business is the catalyst that set this whole drama in motion and undeniably put our nation at risk. If it turns out that our secrets were accessed by our enemies, either through willful conduct or unwitting exposure, then this is a scandal of epic proportions. Clinton’s decision to use a “homebrew server” set the conditions for compromise and her actions as a leader set a tone of extreme carelessness where protecting our nation’s secrets is concerned. Someone who would put our nation in this precarious position – even if no espionage ever actually occurred – is not the person we want as our Commander-in-Chief.