l****z
发帖数: 29846 | 1 Published on CNS News http://www.cnsnews.com
Yet Another Email Scandal? ... This Time at Department of Homeland Security
The federal agency charged with protecting America from terrorists and
enforcing our immigration laws is embroiled in yet another corruption
scandal.
Earlier this month, we filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit [1]
here in DC against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in order to
obtain records related to the use by senior officials, including Secretary
Jeh Johnson, of government-owned computers for “personal” email accounts.
According to press reports [2], Johnson and 28 other top Homeland Security
officials sought and were granted waivers to use the personal email accounts
for the past year, despite the practice having been banned in April 2014.
Included among those senior Homeland Security officials using the private
email accounts on government-owned computers were Deputy Secretary Alejandro
Mayorkas, Chief of Staff Christian Marrone and General Counsel Stevan
Bunnell.
The Judicial Watch lawsuit was filed on October 21, after Homeland Security
failed to comply with a simple FOIA request submitted on July 21, 2014,
seeking:
All requests (in any form) submitted by senior DHS officials for waivers
to use personal Web-based email accounts on government-owned computers.
Copies of all waivers granted to senior DHS officials to use personal
Web-based email accounts on government-owned computers.
The waivers granted to Johnson and 28 other senior staffers were in direct
violation of Homeland Security’s Sensitive Systems Policy Directive 4300A [
3], promulgated on April 30, 2014. The directive was issued after hackers
breached [4] the Office of Personnel Management computer system. Directive
4300A states, “The use of Internet Webmail (Gmail, Yahoo, AOL) or other
personal email accounts is not authorized over DHS furnished equipment or
network connections.” According to Bloombergview.com [2], “exceptions
were decided on a case-by-case basis by the chief information officer, Luke
McCormack.”
Is it a coincidence that Jeh Johnson’s personal email account was recently
hacked [5]? Coincidence or not, the hacking incident again shows the
dangers of top officials possibly doing government business on unsecure
email systems.
Deputy Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas also received one of the email waivers.
In another major league scandal the Obama administration is covering up –
and that Congress is almost completely ignoring –Mayorkas was found [6] by
the Homeland Inspector General to have improperly intervened [7] to help
wealthy EB-5 visa applicants [8] with ties to Democratic party figures,
including Senator Harry Reid (D-NV), now-Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe
and Hillary Clinton’s brother, Anthony Rodham. One can only imagine what
Mayorkas was trying to hide through his shady email practices.
Secretary Johnson’s department has become notorious for failing to enforce
and for ignoring immigration law. Most recently, the department was stopped
by the courts from granting a form of amnesty to millions without legal
authority.
The Daily Caller took notice of our lawsuit and its ramifications in a
November 18, 2015, report [9] that informed readers as follows:
“The ban on use of private emails followed the unprecedented hack of U.
S. Office of Personnel Management files containing information on millions
of current and retired federal employees.
“The ban, known as Directive 4300A, provides that use of ‘Internet
Webmail (Gmail, Yahoo, AOL) or other per personal email accounts is not
authorized over DHS furnished equipment or network connections.’”
Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson and Hillary Clinton are two peas in
a pod when it comes to apparently breaking the law on the use of email. As
with Hillary Clinton’s email scandal, the Obama administration is in cover-
up mode – refusing to provide information as required by law about the
illicit email “waivers” that may have allowed Jeh Johnson and other top
Homeland Security officials to conduct government business in secret while
putting the nation’s security at risk.
Tom Fitton is the President of Judicial Watch, the public interest group
that investigates and prosecutes government corruption. Founded in 1994,
Judicial Watch seeks to ensure government and judicial officials act
ethically and do not abuse the powers entrusted to them by the American
public.
Source URL: http://www.cnsnews.com/commentary/tom-fitton/yet-another-email-scandal-time-department-homeland-security | a*******1
发帖数: 1554 | 2 好事啊，法不责众，希拉里相对安全了；选民会觉得这也不是什么大事，大家都这么用
，好像也没什么 | D**s
发帖数: 6361 | 3 希老太很高兴，政府高层普遍都用私人邮箱处理公务…… |
|
