Thursday, May 05, 2016

Romanian hacker claims to have hacked into Hillary Clinton's e-mail server, but did he?


So the internet is abuzz with news about his "Guccifer" fellow who now claims that he used Sydney Blumenthal's e-mail account, after guessing his password, to hack into Clinton's account as well.

There are a couple of red flags that his story might be pure BS, but Fox News is fairly convinced:  

EXCLUSIVE: The infamous Romanian hacker known as “Guccifer,” speaking exclusively with Fox News, claimed he easily – and repeatedly – breached former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s personal email server in early 2013. 

 "For me, it was easy ... easy for me, for everybody," Marcel Lehel Lazar, who goes by the moniker "Guccifer," told Fox News from a Virginia jail where he is being held. 

Guccifer’s potential role in the Clinton email investigation was first reported by Fox News last month. The hacker subsequently claimed he was able to access the server – and provided extensive details about how he did it and what he found – over the course of a half-hour jailhouse interview and a series of recorded phone calls with Fox News.

Fox News leaves a little wiggle room in case this guy, Marcel Lehel Lazar, turns out to be yanking their chain, but you can sense their excitement in the almost breathless way they are reporting this. Also making damn sure that everybody knows that THEY had the story first.

Except of course they didn't.

NBC had already interviewed this individual, who is serving a four year sentence for his crimes which include hacking into the Bush family e-mail accounts, before he was extradited.

Here is how NBC reported the story today: 

When pressed by NBC News, Lazar, 44, could provide no documentation to back up his claims, nor did he ever release anything online supporting his allegations, as he had frequently done with past hacks. The FBI's review of the Clinton server logs showed no sign of hacking, according to a source familiar with the case. 

Brian Fallon, national press secretary for Clinton's presidential campaign, said Guccifer's claims were baseless. 

"There is absolutely no basis to believe the claims made by this criminal from his prison cell," said Fallon. "In addition to the fact that he offers no proof to support his claims, his descriptions of Secretary Clinton's server are inaccurate. It is unfathomable that he would have gained access to her emails and not leaked them the way he did to his other victims. 

"We have received no indication from any government agency to support these claims, nor are they reflected in the range of charges that Guccifer already faces and that prompted his extradition in the first place," Fallon added. "And it has been reported that security logs from Secretary Clinton's email server do not show any evidence of foreign hacking."

Apparently this Lazar fellow also claimed that there was nothing interesting in the e-mails, but then in other reports that he saved data, which obviously he never used.

So right now the Right Wing blogs, and of course Bernie supporters, are losing their minds over this and claiming that it proves Clinton is doomed.

However the first thing to remember is that there is still no evidence that this even happened. Secondly, if it did, that the State Department e-mail system was ALSO hacked. And thirdly that it is incredibly unlikely that this will have any effect whatsoever on Hillary's campaign in the real world.

64 comments:

  1. Anonymous12:24 PM

    OT: http://www.salon.com/2016/05/05/dear_media_please_call_out_trump_on_this_hes_a_tinfoil_wearing_conspiracy_theorist_ignoring_that_is_irresponsible/

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    1. Anonymous1:13 PM

      I don't believe it and yes G, several red flags.
      And IF, and that's a big IF it was true, there was NO dot.gov account so it wouldn't be HER faulth anyway it would be the GOV fault for not providing the State dept with their own dot.gov acct.
      I wish Hillary would remind everybody that NOBODY including Condi Rice etc had a Dot.gov acct. She could of even been using a Yahoo acct like a certain someone in Alaska and she blamed it on the HACKER! So no matter what, it isn't her fault!
      Repeat after me...IT IS HER FAULT SO FUCKING GET OVER IT!
      Let Madame Potus get on with it!
      The fucking RW have TRUMP! Wow! And their desperate to still go after Hillary? I guess they are REALLY planning to pull a rabbit out of their ass at the primary.
      Pathetic!

      Delete
    2. Anonymous1:44 PM

      IT IS HER FAULT!!

      repeating after you.

      Delete
    3. The government has a secret agenda to decrease the population so only the strong servive. Are you ready http://infowars.com/theendtimes

      Delete
    4. Anonymous7:46 PM

      Seriously? Info Wars? Hahaha. Trump Apocalypse!

      Delete
    5. Anonymous7:52 PM

      Janet, but will the strong be able to spell?

      Delete
  2. Anonymous12:27 PM

    The fact that there is no proof he did it won't, of course, stop the RW, Fox, Trump, and the Trumpkins from tying to smear Hillary with it. Even some unethical and frustrated Bernie supporters will throw it out there.

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    1. Caroll Thompson1:31 PM

      Let's rename the Trumpkins the Dumbkins.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous3:12 PM

      Dump Trump!

      Delete
  3. Anonymous12:39 PM

    I have a problem with this statement:
    "And it has been reported that security logs from Secretary Clinton's email server do not show any evidence of foreign hacking."

    As someone who manages servers, I know that they are constantly poked by automated requests trying to break in. Based on IPs, these often come from Russia or other foreign places. It happens to all servers constantly.

    To say that server logs don't contain any of this "foreign hacking" type of log entry strains credulity. But let's ignore those. He's also saying that any hacking attempt would have been logged in the security logs, which asks the question, if you could detect all hacking attempts, why merely log it instead of triggering some kind of alarm?
    Isn't hacking supposed to be stealthy anyway? What would he expect to find in the logs?

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    1. Anonymous1:33 PM

      What's hilarious about Fallon saying, "It's been reported...". What's been reported is what Fallon has told reporters in the past. And NBC's reporter didn't follow up with, " Well the reports that the security logs don't show any evidence of hacking came from you." Another example of the media giving Clinton and her staff a pass when the obvious follow up is right in front of them teed up and ready to go.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous4:07 PM

      WaPo says it's a nothing burger.

      Delete
  4. Apparently with Hillary, what doesn't kill her does indeed make her stronger.

    Maybe the opposition might want to stop trying to use the same failed strategy to defeat her - ScandalGate (or is it ScandalGhazi?).

    They might try something like promoting why their candidate, Donald Trump, is a better choice for US president based on experience, temperament, ability to get along with people (like other world leaders), policy positions, sense of judgement, knowledge of US law and constitution ...

    Oh wait, who am I kidding? Yeah, manufacturing a baseless scandal is not only easier, it's all they have left in the arsenal.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. 66gardeners3:15 PM

      Dipstick Donald better come up with some new material if he is to have a reasonable chance competing against Hillary.

      Oh wait, congressional republicans already shot the Hillary opposition load in a misfire with a loose cannon.

      Delete
  5. Anonymous1:08 PM

    Faux news can go f itself sideways.

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    1. Anonymous1:35 PM

      NBC News is reporting the story. Interviewed Guccifer when he was still in Romania. Why did NBC sit on the story until Fox scooped them with the reporting?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous3:08 PM

      Because he was being extradited?

      Delete
  6. Anonymous1:40 PM

    Stay tuned:

    " ... FBI Finds No Evidence Clinton Broke The Law With Private Email"

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  7. Anonymous1:41 PM

    CNN is currently reporting that it is unlikely that anyone will be charged with any "willful violations of the law." It's on CNN right now. No indications of any indictments. They think it is wrapping up by the end of May. They have interviewed Hillary's aides. The people who physically set up the server were granted immunity but not her personal aides. Hillary will be interviewed and then it will end.

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    1. Anonymous2:25 PM

      CNN is not reporting it is unlikely that anyone will be charged or that there are no indications of any indictments.

      CNN reported that people have been interviewed and what unnamed sources say. They had one of their paid experts who said *he* thought it would be over by May.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous3:49 PM

      Yes: The CNN expert DID say it was unlikely anyone would be charged, according to their sources. Did you listen to the reporters?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous3:55 PM

      Directly from CNN reports:
      "Some of Hillary Clinton’s closest aides, including her longtime adviser Huma Abedin, have provided interviews to federal investigators, as the FBI probe into the security of her private email server nears completion, U.S. officials briefed on the investigation tell CNN. The investigation is still ongoing, but so far investigators haven’t found evidence to prove that Clinton willfully violated the law, the U.S. officials say." http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/05/politics/fbi-interviews-huma-abedin-clinton-aide/index.html

      Delete
    4. Anonymous3:56 PM

      CNN is taking their talking points straight from the Clinton campaign.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous4:06 PM

      3:56 - What a mature rejoinder!

      Delete
    6. Anonymous5:19 PM

      3:49 - CNN did not report that it's unlikely anyone will be charged. A paid talking head related some things he said he'd heard from sources he didn't name, and opined he thought it was unlikely. He wasn't reporting facts, he was opining. In fact, if you go to the story on CNN.com, by reporters, it says no such thing.
      http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/05/politics/fbi-interviews-huma-abedin-clinton-aide/index.html

      Delete
    7. Anonymous5:53 PM

      Is it "opining" when you quote your off-record sources? No. I've watched their male reporter assigned to this 3 times today on this story; he's said the same conclusion each time: Charges unlikely.

      Delete
  8. Anonymous1:47 PM

    .....speaking exclusively with Fox News?

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  9. Anonymous1:52 PM

    The media are brimming with stories about “how far to the left Bernie can push Hillary."

    Utter nonsense.

    American politics is no longer arrayed along the old left-right divide, with big government on one side and the “free market” on the other. The new divide is establishment versus anti-establishment.

    On the establishment side are Wall Street moguls and CEOs of big corporations and the Washington insiders who do their bidding. They want more bailouts, subsidies, tax loopholes, monopolies, global investment, big money in politics, and a faster revolving door between Washington and the Street.

    On the anti-establishment side are those who want the reverse – thereby ending the upward distributions of income from the paychecks of average working people to the crony capitalists and monopolists, and reclaiming our democracy.

    So the real question isn’t how far to the “left” Bernie can push Hillary. It’s how far Bernie can move Hillary and the Democrats away from the moneyed interests – getting commitments, for example, on the public financing of campaigns, full disclosure of all sources of campaign funding, nominating justices who will reverse “Citizens United,” not nominating to the Treasury emissaries from Wall Street, ending the revolving door, strengthening unions, and using antitrust laws to bust up monopolies.

    What do you think?

    https://www.facebook.com/RBReich/posts/1211483518864242

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    1. Anonymous3:50 PM

      THIS IS HOW TO CHANGE C U N T>
      https://movetoamend.org

      Delete
  10. Anonymous1:56 PM

    Berniebros = Fox News, knew it all the time.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous1:57 PM

    Hillary had another email system we know as diplomatic cables or SCIF. She had one in her house. Even that was hacked. Search wikileak cable leak. /MacBruce

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  12. Anonymous2:03 PM

    Whether he hacked her account or not, he is certainly an example of the type of person that we do not want in America, they type of Eastern European or Middle Eastern person that needs VERY close scrutiny if trying to come to our country.

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    1. Speaking just for myself, I find the right wing Christians who are already here to be the ones deserving of closer scrutiny. They are the ones threatening the very fabric of our country.

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    2. Anonymous3:09 PM

      Bigotry @2:03

      Delete
    3. Anonymous3:16 PM

      WASPS do it too

      Delete
    4. Anita Winecooler4:00 PM

      Emma Lazarus

      Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame, with conquering limbs astride from land to land; Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand a mighty woman with a torch, whose flame is the imprisoned lightning, and her name Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command the air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame, "Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she with silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore, Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

      Did I miss a bigoted quota system or mention of exclusion?

      Delete
  13. Anonymous2:40 PM

    There is no "there" there. Republicons should be reminded with every House and Senate race how much Darryl Issa and Trey Gowdy have cost the taxpayers in their partisan piscatorial research. And don't forget how much Raphael Cruz Jr cost us while reading a children's book.

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  14. Crystal Sage2:59 PM

    It's BENGHAZI! all over again, except this time it's E-MAILS! Hillary will be taunted with this kind of crap for the foreseeable future, even after she is elected POTUS. Remember when Obama was subjected to the "Rev. Wright Conspiracy" and the "Pals Around With Terrorists Conspiracy"? And, even after he was elected, "The Birth Conspiracy" brought to us by The Donald? So, we know that FAUX News and the Trumpsters will be cooking up all sorts of things to throw at Hillary.

    Bring 'em on. She's ready.

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    1. Anonymous3:47 PM

      The reality is that this is an FBI investigation based on whether the law was broken or not. This investigation is not a political witch hunt like the Benghazi hearings. The Republicans make me sick but they cannot initiate an FBI investigation. After the FBI has finished its investigation, they will report to the U.S. Justice Department whether there is evidence to prosecute.

      The NBC interview of the hacker reported that the hack was absolutely possible. One of the Cyber experts NBC spoke with stated that doubts this guy would admit to a felony if he didn't do it.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous4:05 PM

      The guy is a nut job with the handle of "Guccifer." Come on.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous5:01 PM

      2:59 PM:
      AMEN!

      Delete
  15. Anonymous3:12 PM

    Still blogging about this 'nothing' FBI investigation huh?

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    1. Anonymous3:37 PM

      Yep. It's a nothing burger! "Scant Evidence of Malicious Intent in E-mails" - WaPo today: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/federal-prosecutors-in-virginia-assisting-in-clinton-email-probe/2016/05/05/f0277faa-12f0-11e6-81b4-581a5c4c42df_story.html

      Delete
    2. Anonymous5:07 PM

      Scant is an interesting word. "Scant evidence" doesn't mean "no evidence".

      Delete
    3. Anonymous5:14 PM

      Um, having written headlines for newspapers, I assure you it means "nothing."

      Delete
  16. Another angle on the use of emails from her server http://www.eutimes.net/2016/01/beyond-top-secret-hillary-clinton-emails-used-in-russian-court-against-ukraine-pilot/

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    1. Anonymous4:17 PM

      I read the above article ... So back in Jan 2016, the overseas media was reporting Russian access to top secret documents on Clinton's personal server? Surely this shows that the situation is not "a right wing conspiracy".

      This was prior to any of our primary elections, and why have none of the US journalists followed up on this? As voters in each state of the election cycle, shouldn't we all have accurate information on positions taken by each candidate? If there are documents submitted in a court case in another country that support/don't support comments a candidate makes during a debate or while campaigning, why aren't we told of this by our trusted press?

      The election of 2016 has revealed many things about the current culture and political views of our citizens. It has also showed us that our news organizations can no longer be depended upon for reporting the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous7:44 PM

      E U Times - libertarian source

      Delete
  17. physicsmom3:31 PM

    This story is utter nonsense. Hillary announced that she was leaving the State Department Jan. 13, 2013 and she officially left Jan. 29, 2013, so if this guy is telling the truth, he would have had to hack her server only in the month of January. That's ridiculous. BTW, this is a Bernie supporter here, who is NOT losing her shit about this story. The majority of us are way more savvy than you all give us credit for being.

    Also, I support the analysis given by Anon 1:52 on the split between factions today. And, yes, I hope that Hillary moves further away from the monied interests and embraces new campaign finance laws, along with supporting the rejection of Citizen's United in the next Supreme Court.

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    1. Anonymous5:04 PM

      The hack wouldn't be limited to January 2013. Clinton didn't remove the email from her server on Jan 29 when she left the State Dept. The emails were still there when the State Dept told her they needed copies of all her email in Oct 2014 and when she finally complied in Dec 2014 by delivering 50,000 printed pages to the State Dept. The emails were still on the server. They were still there when the FBI started its investigation in May 2015. The guy's hack wasn't limited to January 2013.

      Delete
  18. Anita Winecooler3:39 PM

    "Exclusive on Fox News" was all I needed to read. I'll explain it in simple terms, this guy sits and drools while watching eye candy, and it gets damned lonely locked up in jail with a bunch of other fellas, so he made this up, hoping Fox would send some T and A newsreader, and to spend more time, he made it all sound juicy.
    Either that, or he's got OCD and keeps his designer heels in alphabetical order.

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  19. Anonymous3:52 PM

    E-Mail Scandal Crushed!

    http://www.politicususa.com/2016/05/05/email-scandal-crushed-fbi-finds-evidence-clinton-broke-law-private-email.html

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    1. Anonymous10:12 AM

      lol. Politics USA.... need go no further to understand it is 100% opinion fluff piece.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:40 AM

      10:12AM Lol. Hillary will not be indicted.

      Delete
  20. Anonymous4:20 PM

    http://www.thompsontimeline.com/The_Clinton_Email_Scandal_Timeline

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    1. Anonymous4:34 PM

      An honest criticism of the Thompson E-Mail Timeline: http://www.democraticunderground.com/12511886909

      Delete
  21. Anonymous4:52 PM

    Someone offered him money (perhaps to his widowed mother or whatnot). But it wouldn't be the Rupert Murdoch owned FOX News because they're a legitimate and serious news channel, fair and balanced and respectable. And so professional.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Anonymous5:13 PM

    Heard one of these FAUX twits on rightwing radio today (know thy enemy.) She was trying to connect dos that required transatlantic flights to get from one to the other.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Anonymous6:05 PM

    On August 10, 2015, Judicial Watch announced that the State Department submitted to the court a sworn declaration from Clinton regarding federal records on her controversial email system. The declaration states:

    I, Hillary Rodham Clinton, declare under penalty of perjury that the following is true and correct:

    "While I do not know what information may be “responsive” for purposes of this law suit, I have directed that all my e-mails on clintonemail.com in my custody that were or potentially were federal records to be provided to the Department of State, and on information and belief, this has been done.
    As a result of my directive, approximately 55,000 pages of these emails were produced to the Department on December 5, 2014.
    Cheryl Mills did not have an account on clintonemail.com. Huma Abedin did have such an account which was used at times for government business.
    The document is signed by “Hillary Rodham Clinton.” The State Department was ordered by US District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan on July 31 to request that Clinton and her top aides confirm, under penalty of perjury, that they have produced all government records in their possession and to return any other government records immediately."
    https://www.judicialwatch.org/press-room/press-releases/judicial-watch-lawsuit-uncovers-more-hillary-clinton-emails-withheld-from-state-department/

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    1. Anonymous7:44 PM

      Gryph, your site is now flooded with right wing propaganda! Judicial Watch???? Sigh.

      Delete
  24. Anonymous2:57 AM

    The bitch is a criminal about to be indicted. So Fuck off you liberal assholes.

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    1. Anonymous5:01 AM

      Here is an explanation from....
      Wait for it...
      A smart poster from reddit.
      "What is important to understand is this.
      Without an IDS installed there was no way to independently audit network activity to/from Hillary's server and guarantee that it was not hacked. If her server was hacked, server logs could have been modified or deleted.
      There was no apparent use of an Intrusion Detection System (IDS) or an Intrusion Prevention System (IPS) between January 2009 - October 2013.
      IDS and IPS provide different functions and it is separate hardware from the server. Dual IDS/IPS functionality can be included in the same device. This hardware is typically installed at the edge of a network, forwards packets, scans all traffic for suspicious activity, logs it, and with IPS functionality it will block traffic."
      *ecloc*
      At the very least we are talking about gross negligence and POOR judgement concerning the server in her basement.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:09 AM

      2:57

      My, my, my. Agitated a bit? There will be no indictments child. You fuck off you mush-brained fool.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:44 AM

      Hillary has foolishly played her untouchable, rules are for other people game, too far. Americans are insisting she be held accountable before the law.

      Delete

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