NSA Chief: Clinton’s Private Email Server an Intelligence ‘Opportunity’
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton Charlie Neibergall/AP File Photo
By
Frank Konkel
Rogers was responding to a hypothetical question from Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., about former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s controversial use of a “homebrew” private email system.
The chief of the National Security Agency, Adm. Michael Rogers, told lawmakers last week he’d view foreign officials conducting official business from private email servers as a golden intelligence “opportunity.”
Rogers was responding to a hypothetical question from Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., invoking former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s controversial use of a “homebrew” private email system.
Clinton has since apologized for using a private email server to conduct official government business – after offering a series of heavily criticized excuses as the saga developed.
However, it’s clear from Rogers’ perspective that U.S. spies would love for foreign adversaries to follow in Clinton’s footsteps.
“From a foreign intelligence perspective, that represents opportunity,” said Rogers during a Sept. 24 Senate Intelligence Committee hearing.
In other words, if Clinton were an adversary, NSA would have looked to exploit her private email systems for intelligence purposes. And there’s little reason to believe Clinton’s private email server could have withstood the kinds of sophisticated onslaught adversaries like China and Russia are capable of executing.