The White House hacking story is in the news again today with the revelation by CNN that officials believe the hacking was performed by operators acting on behalf of the Russian government. According to CNN, the hacking took place via the State Department computer system. CNN’s story is reported under the headline “How the U.S. thinks Russians hacked the White House.”
The relevance of the hacking of the Executive Office of the President to the revelation of Hillary Clinton homebrew email is obvious; CNN notes it in passing at the bottom of its report. In today’s Investor’s Business Daily, J. Michael Waller reports “Hillary Clinton’s private email server a foreign spy magnet.”
As John notes, we originally reported the hacking of the Executive Office of the President this past fall on Power Line. It’s an important story that the White House has consistently sought to manage and minimize.
On a well founded tip from a knowledgeable source this past fall, we reported the apparent hacking in a series of posts here (October 23), here (October 24) and here (October 28). From the outset we sought comment from the White House press office in straightforward requests submitted by email and phone call.
I note in the linked posts that I repeatedly asked the White House press office to comment by email and phone inquiries. When I received no response, I called the White House again to verify that my email inquiries had been received. The White House acknowledged receipt of my inquiries when I called to follow up, but the White House never responded. To this day I have received no response to my inquiries.
On the evening of October 28 the White House leaked the story to Reuters, which dutifully downplayed it. We noted the leak of the story to Reuters here.
I took it somewhat personally when the White House failed to respond to my phone calls and email messages and then leaked the story to a friendly news outlet. In her book Stonewalled, however, former CBS News investigative reporter Sharyl Attkisson demonstrates that the failure to respond to legitimate news inquiries constitutes an important part of the White House management of the news in the Age of Obama. Attkisson’s book demonstrates that I shouldn’t have taken it personally; this is how “the most transparent administration in history” rolls.
I wrote about Stonewalled in the NR column “The Attkisson File.”. As she relates in the book, apparently as the reward for her reportorial efforts, Attkisson was treated to the hacking of her own personal and professional computers. Toward the end of the book she states: : “On May 6, 2013, I make contact with an excellent source who has crucial information: the name of the person responsible for my computer intrusions. He provides me the name and I recognize it. I’m not surprised. It strikes me as desperate and cowardly that those responsible would resort to these tactics. That’s all I can say about that for now.”
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