In what is being labeled a ‘shocking deposition,’ Lewis A. Lukens, a veteran 27-year foreign service officer at the State Department, admitted that Hillary Clinton “does not know how to use a computer to do emails,” and that her standalone computer did not have a password for protection.
Let’s review that. The Secretary of State for the United States of America … did not have a password on the computer she used to read emails.
Seems secure.
A lawyer with Judicial Watch, who has been granted permission to also depose Clinton herself, along with aides Cheryl Mills, Huma Abedin, and Patrick Kennedy, seemed shocked by the revelation.
Via the Daily Caller:
Citing a conversation Lukens had with Clinton Chief of Staff Cheryl Mills, he wrote, “She says problem (sic) is HRC does not know how to use a computer to do emails — only Blackberry.” HRC refers to Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Judicial Watch attorney Michael Bekesha asked Lukens if State Department policy barred the use of personal cell phones in the Secretary’s official office suite, which is one of the most tightly secured facilities in government.
Lukens explained the prohibition: “So the crux of the issue was that BlackBerrys and iPhones are not allowed in the Secretary’s office suite, so the question was, how is the Secretary going to be able to check her emails if she’s not able to have the Blackberry at her desk with her.”
…
Lukens also said Clinton did not use a password to protect her stand-alone computer from unwanted intruders such as hackers. During the deposition, Lukens volunteered that the stand-alone computer adjacent to her suite did not have a password for protection “She wouldn’t have had a password.”
Bekesha asked, astonished, “So the computer would have just been open and be able to use without going through any security features?”
“Correct,” Lukens replied.
In March, reports surfaced that FBI investigators were trying to determine how sensitive intelligence “jumped the gap” between classified systems and Clinton’s unsecured personal server. One of the possible scenarios being reviewed involved aides sharing their passwords.
A Fox News report indicated that “such passwords are required to access each State Department network.”
If Clinton failed to even use a password, then this is clear-cut evidence that she failed to comply with yet another State Department requirement.
A source told Fox “if [Clinton] was allowing other people to use her passwords, that is a big problem.”
The password sharing is considered strictly prohibited under non-disclosure agreements signed by Clinton and others, under federal law.
Not having a password at all would seem to be an even bigger problem.
A memo from June of 2011 sent to State Department employees warns them not to “conduct official Department business from your personal e-mail accounts.” The memo adds that it is important to “change passwords” on their accounts “because of recent targeting of personal e-mail accounts by online adversaries.”
We’d imagine it’s be particularly easy for those ‘online adversaries’ to access an email account that has no password protection at all.
Comment: In any job you’ve worked at, have you ever been allowed to forgo a password on your computer or e-mail accounts? Should Hillary have been allowed to not use a password? Share your thoughts below.
