Emails: Hillary Clinton asked for a BlackBerry in 2009, but the NSA said no

[magical thyme]

I thought there were no rules broken...another lie bites the dust

https://www.yahoo.com/tech/emails-clinton-sought-secure-smartphone-rebuffed-nsa-202524970--politics.html

Clinton’s desire for a secure “Blackberry-like” device, like that provided to President Barack Obama, is recounted in a series of February 2009 exchanges between high-level officials at the State Department and NSA. Clinton was sworn in as secretary the prior month, and had become “hooked” on reading and answering emails on a Blackberry she used during the 2008 presidential race.

Resolving the issue was given such priority as to result in a face-to-face meeting between Clinton chief of staff Cheryl Mills, seven senior State Department staffers with five NSA security experts. According to a summary of the meeting, the request was driven by Clinton’s reliance on her Blackberry for email and keeping track of her calendar. Clinton chose not to use a laptop or desktop computer that could have provided her access to email in her office, according to the summary.

Standard smartphones are not allowed into areas designated as approved for the handling of classified information, such as the block of offices used by senior State Department officials, known by the nickname “Mahogany Row” for the quality of their paneling. Mills said that was inconvenient, because they had to leave their offices and retrieve their phones to check messages.

Mills also asked about waivers provided during the Bush administration to then-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice for her staff to use Blackberries in their secure offices. But the NSA had phased out such waivers due to security concerns.


The following month, in March 2009, Clinton began using private email accounts accessed through her Blackberry to exchange messages with her top aides. The State Department has thus far released more than 52,000 pages of Clinton’s work-related emails, a small percentage of which have been withheld because they contain information considered sensitive to national security.