An internal memo shows State Department officials warned Cheryl Mills, Hillary Clinton’s chief of staff, that she and the secretary of state should discontinue their Blackberry use because it posed “vulnerabilities and risks.”
The declassified memo was sent to Mills by Eric Boswell, former head of diplomatic security, in the first weeks of Clinton’s tenure.
“Our review reaffirms our belief that the vulnerabilities and risks associated with the use of Blackberries in the Mahogany Row … significantly outweigh the convenience their use can add to staff that have access to the unclassified OpenNet system on their desktops,” the March 2009 memo said. Boswell was evidently referring to the State Department’s executive office by a colloquial term, Mahogany Row.
Parts of the memo, which was obtained by Judicial Watch through the Freedom of Information Act, are still classified. Boswell stepped down from his position in 2012, shortly after the Benghazi attack.
Clinton defended her reliance on a personal server to host all of her communications by claiming she set up the controversial network in her home as a matter of “convenience,” allowing her to carry just one device.
However, subsequent evidence proved Clinton used at least two devices to access the unsecured network. The memo made public Friday suggests even the Blackberry she chose to use was discouraged by her own agency.
“We also worry about the example that using Blackberries in Mahogany Row might set as we strive to promote crucial security practices and enforce important security standards among State Department staff,” the memo continued.
Boswell suggested “as an alternative” that diplomatic security officials work with Clinton’s staff to set up the official, unclassified system on a computer at the secretary’s office.
But Clinton testified during an Oct. 22 hearing before the House Select Committee on Benghazi that she did not have a desktop computer in her State Department office.
Instead, she was photographed throughout her years as secretary of state using a Blackberry. Emails made public by the State Department indicate she also used an iPad to read her emails, some of which contained sensitive material.
“I cannot stress too strongly, however, that any unclassified Blackberry is highly vulnerable in any setting to remotely and covertly monitoring conversations, retrieving emails and exploiting calendars,” Boswell added.
Critics have accused Clinton of exposing potentially classified information to security breaches by storing it on a server in her Chappaqua, N.Y., home rather than on official government servers.
Clinton has long argued nothing she sent or received was marked classified.
Other emails made public Friday by the conservative watchdog group indicate State Department staff also inquired about the use of iPad devices for email use, but were met with similar warnings about “vulnerabilities.”
