Rep. Lamar Smith, chairman of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, fired off a series of letters Thursday to firms that provided tech support to Hillary Clinton’s private server in an effort to learn more about the cybersecurity measures Clinton used to protect her emails.
“A high profile government official deviating from established information security requirements raises significant concerns,” Smith said of the four letters he sent out Thursday. “The sensitive nature of the information stored on Sec. Clinton’s private server created a unique challenge to ensure all of the information was properly safeguarded.”
Two of Smith’s letters went to Datto, Inc. and Platte River Networks, tech companies known to have provided services to Clinton during her State Department tenure.
The other pair of letters went to Fortinet, Inc. and SENCAP Network Security Corp., two firms whose role in managing the Clinton email server was not well known.
Clinton hired Platte River Networks in 2013 to manage her email data, which in turn tapped Datto Inc. to back up the emails.
According to the Smith letters, Fortinet, Inc. provided “encryption software” for the Clinton server.
SENCAP offered “threat monitoring software” to Clinton.
“SENCAP was tasked with installing the CloudJacket anti-intrusion security device on Secretary Clinton’s private server which identified several attempted intrusion attacks originating from China, Germany, and the Republic of Korea,” the letter said.
Smith asked the CEOs of each company to hand over any and all documents related to their work with Clinton, including any emails discussing their work with her server.
The FBI has reportedly asked Platte River Networks and Datto, Inc. to provide similar documentation in the law enforcement agency’s separate probe of the Clinton email server.
Smith said Thursday his inquiries were intended to improve federal cybersecurity laws by learning what sort of breaches might have plagued the Clinton server.
Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, the committee’s ranking Democrat, blasted Smith’s move Thursday evening as a political calculation.
“I am deeply disappointed and saddened that the chairman has decided to further diminish the standing of this committee through his pursuit of an election-year partisan agenda,” Johnson said in a statement. “While couched in the verbiage of pursuing legitimate committee oversight, it is clear that this latest ‘oversight’ is nothing less than a transparent attempt to score political points, effectively turning the committee into little more than an arm of the Republican National Committee.”
