Thursday, October 15, 2015

A Double Dose Of Clinton.com Hillarity

Because I was too busy catching fish yesterday to do a Clinton.com post (and even if I'd wanted to, or had a phone capable, cell reception in the Eastern Shore is spotty at best), there's a lot of material to get through . . .

Clinton email server setup risked intrusions
The AP exclusively reviewed numerous records from an Internet "census" by an anonymous hacker-researcher, who three years ago used unsecured devices to scan hundreds of millions of Internet Protocol addresses for accessible doors, called "ports." Using a computer in Serbia, the hacker scanned Clinton's basement server in Chappaqua at least twice, in August and December 2012. It was unclear whether the hacker was aware the server belonged to Clinton, although it identified itself as providing email services for clintonemail.com. The results are widely available online.

Remote-access software allows users to control another computer from afar. The programs are usually operated through an encrypted connection — called a virtual private network, or VPN. But Clinton's system appeared to accept commands directly from the Internet without such protections.

"That's total amateur hour," said Marc Maiffret, who has founded two cybersecurity companies. He said permitting remote-access connections directly over the Internet would be the result of someone choosing convenience over security or failing to understand the risks. "Real enterprise-class security, with teams dedicated to these things, would not do this," he said.
Old news, in a way, since I long ago decided that the contents of Clinton.com's "secret servers" were probably well known to every intelligence agency in the world, if not the US public.

And security at the second company that retained her archives was nearly as bad: Open doors, no checkpoints and a dumpster waiting to be rifled through - security farce at 'data fortress' run by company that held Hillary Clinton's emails
Wide open with no checkpoints and no perimeter fence, this is one of the data storage sites run by the company that backed up Hillary Clinton's emails.

The facility owned by Datto Inc was part of the network that stored classified messages from the private email server the Democratic presidential candidate used as Secretary of State. But unlike most government buildings, it is possible to walk to the front door without being challenged.

Daily Mail Online also saw employees from inside the building emptying trash into a dumpster that was kept open and unattended.

The disclosures will raise further alarm that Clinton's emails were not as secure as they would have been had she used her official email account while she was Secretary of State.
Part of the issue with Hillary is that she views the US public, or at least the substantial part of it that prescribes to something other than Democrat leanings, as her enemy, and more dangerous than foreign enemies. And to some extent, she's right. The foreign enemies will merely use her information to wage war on the United States, while her domestic enemies will wage war on her.

Even Politico, an attack dog for the left on the internet sees A ‘Cancer’ on the Clinton Candidacy
One longtime Clinton family adviser called the emails a “cancer” on her campaign. Another told us, “She’s her own worst enemy.” And many described moments of anxiety as Clinton, backed up by the protective firewall of her legal team, refused to take full personal responsibility even to her own aides. “I have done nothing wrong,” she repeatedly told them.
Why You Actually Should Care About Hillary Clinton's Damn Emails
Jason is the guy who sued the State Department for access to Clinton's emails earlier this year, and continues to be one of the best people to turn to for up-to-the-minute coverage of the scandal. He has a whole community of avid readers who care about what he abbreviates the "HRC emails."So when Sanders implored American voters—and journalists—to just drop the email subject altogether, I thought I'd ask Jason for his take.

Now that I've had this conversation, I care a whole hell of a lot about the damn emails. Read what he had to say, and maybe you will too.

VICE: Hey Jason. Why do you give a shit about Hillary Clinton's emails?

Jason Leopold: I filed a request for all of her emails because I wanted to gain insight into how she conducted herself as secretary of state, and how that would inform the public as to how she may be as president. That would go for any candidate who is running for office.
. . .
What really turned this into a scandal is not the content.

What is the content though?

It's mostly "please print!" or "I don't know how to work my fax machine!" So it's not necessarily the content of her emails [that's significant.]

"Mostly," but not all, right? Hasn't some of the content been interesting?

We've seen what her position [was] on Afghanistan, and on issues related to Pakistan's role in combatting al Qaeda. She was sort of on the fence about this big troop surge, which was a key moment in Obama's presidency in late 2009.

So how does an email about that translate into news?

The emails are insightful because she really didn't know what to do. She looked to all these outside advisors. She wanted to know how [then-Senator] Carl Levin voted on the Iraq surge. What the email shows is that this is a person who was very concerned at the time about how her decision—her important, important policy decision—would reflect upon her personally, and how it would impact her standing with the public. That's important.

Has anything else been a big deal?

We should know that when issues about the CIA's torture program came up in 2009 and 2010, she was advised by Sydney Blumenthal to never ever discuss [the program] publicly. And for the most part she hasn't. These are things that you get from actually sitting down, and fucking reading every goddamn motherfucking email.

What about that smoking gun on Benghazi? Is that going to be in there?

There will not be a smoking gun. If you're looking for a smoking gun, you will not find it. But there are important takeaways from these emails about certain issues—Guantanamo, Afghanistan, the fight against al Qaeda, the rise of Boko Haram, human rights issues, and many domestic issues revolving around the environment—that we otherwise would not have known without gaining insight into these emails. . . .
If you want Sid "The Shiv" Blumenthal running your foreign policy, by all means elect Hillary. Oh, and the reason for no smoking gun? Because she deleted it when the State Dept. asked for their emails back. Illegally. This may backfire if the FBI recovers all the deleted emails and the Obama administration decides that Hillary is not the best vessel for his legacy.

Lots of today's voters are young people, who only get their news from the Comedy Channel and hence have no sense of the long history of Clinton scandals. Here is a convenient list, many of which had even sunk below the horizon in my memory.

21 most consequential Clinton scandals, ranked from most important
1. Monica Lewinsky: Led to only the second president in American history to be impeached.

2. Benghazi: Four Americans killed, an entire system of weak diplomatic security uncloaked, and the credibility of a president and his secretary of state damaged.

4. Hillary’s private emails: Hundreds of national secrets already leaked through private email and the specter of a criminal probe looming large.

5. Whitewater: A large S&L failed and several people went to prison.

6. Travelgate: The firing of the career travel office was the very first crony capitalism scandal of the Clinton era.

7. Humagate: An aide’s sweetheart job arrangement.

8. Pardongate: The first time donations were ever connected as possible motives for presidential pardons.

9. Foundation favors: Revealing evidence that the Clinton Foundation was a pay-to-play back door to the State Department, and an open checkbook for foreigners to curry favor.

10. Mysterious files: The disappearance and re-discovery of Hillary’s Rose Law Firm records.
. . .
20. The cattle futures: Hillary as commodity trader extraordinaire.

21. Chinagate: Nuclear secrets go to China on her husband’s watch.
I disagree somewhat on the rankings. I would downgrade Monica and promote Cattle futures, for example. But the length and breadth of their joint corruption is simply staggering. If for no other reason, you should elect Republicans because the media would never allow this kind of shit to go on uninvestigated.

And those were just the big things, not the little things like: CNN Debate Moderator Was Member of Clinton Global Initiative
CNN host Anderson Cooper, who is set to moderate tonight's Democratic debate, was listed as a "notable past member" the Clinton Global Initiative's website along with a number of other big name journalists:
The list includes: CNN’s Anderson Cooper and Christiane Amanpour, Fox’s Greta Van Susteren, NBC’s Matt Lauer and Tom Brokaw, New York Times‘s Thomas Friedman and Nicholas Kristof, Fox Business Network’s Maria Bartiromo, Yahoo’s Katie Couric, The Economist‘s Matthew Bishop, and Financial Times‘ Lionel Barber.
The Clinton Foundation later told Mediaite that none of these journalists were asked to pay the $20,000 membership fee required of  members. However, it's safe to say that access to big name journalists was a key selling point for paying Clinton Global Initiative members. In a nutshell, Anderson Cooper helped Hillary Clinton raise money, and now he's presented as an impartial moderator for tonight's debate.
Watchdog probes Clinton Foundation payments to Hillary's campaign
A watchdog group is asking the Internal Revenue Service to investigate whether the Clinton Foundation broke federal law by making payments to Hillary Clinton's failed 2008 presidential campaign.

Matthew Whitaker, executive director of the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust, pressed the IRS on whether the nearly $350,000 the Clinton Foundation paid to rent Clinton's email list after she failed to secure the Democratic nomination was above "fair market value," which is the benchmark used to determine whether such payments constitute veiled donations rather than typical transactions.

The Clinton Foundation made a payment of $274,297 to the campaign in Feb. 2009 and another payment of $75,000 in March of that year, Federal Election Commission filings show.
Why look, it's another convenient way to funnel tax free money into democratic politics. The next thing you know they'll be haranguing us about so called "dark money" or something.

Another Awkward Hillary Moment: Spying Case Against U.S. Envoy Is Falling Apart, and Following a Pattern
The Times takes a while to mention the Hillary connection here, but stay with them:
Spying Case Against U.S. Envoy Is Falling Apart, and Following a Pattern
WASHINGTON — Last fall, federal agents raided the home and office of Robin L. Raphel in search of proof that she, a seasoned member of America’s diplomatic corps, was spying forPakistan. But officials now say the spying investigation has all but fizzled, leaving the Justice Department to decide whether to prosecute Ms. Raphel for the far less serious charge of keeping classified information in her home.
What, it is illegal to mishandle classified information? Well, sometimes...
The Times then goes on to mention a host of other cases of mishandling of government secrets, including  John P. O’Neill, a counterterrorism specialist for the F.B.I.,  Samuel R. Berger, the national security adviser to President Bill Clinton, Attorney general, Alberto R. Gonzales ,  C.I.A. director, John M. Deutch,  David H. Petraeus, before finally getting around to mentioning Hillary Rodham Clinton so late in the article that most people wouldn't get that far.

Lobbyists for Clinton’s ‘Enemies’ Are Bankrolling Her Campaign
Asked to name the enemies that she is most proud of during Tuesday’s Democratic presidential debate, Hillary Clinton cited industries represented by lobbyists who are among her top campaign fundraisers.

In addition to Iran and the Republican Party, Clinton said she was proud to count “the health insurance companies” and “the drug companies” as her enemies.

Those industries’ lobbyists do not appear to share that enmity. By mid-July, seven of them had raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for her presidential campaign, according to campaign finance records.

They include Heather and Tony Podesta, the recently divorced Democratic power brokers. Heather Podesta represents health insurer Cigna, while Tony lobbies on behalf of pharmaceutical firmsAmgen and EMD Serono, a division of drug giant Merck.
With enemies like that, who need friends? 

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