Hillary, State Dept. Staff Spurned Required IT Security Training
Friday, 12 Jun 2015 05:01 PM
Hillary Clinton blew off the standard information technology security training required of all State Department workers when she headed the department as Secretary of State, the Washington Free Beacon reports.
The lack of training was revealed after the Competitive Enterprise Institute filed a Freedom of Information Act request to see the documentation; the State Department replied it couldn't find any record of Clinton, chief of staff Cheryl Mills, or deputy chief of staff Huma Abedin getting any IT security training, the Free Beacon reports.
"One former, senior executive branch personnel official contacted me to point out the requirement that appointees take this training, and that if Mses. Clinton, Abedin or Mills had deigned to follow the law, a record of this would exist," Chris Horner, who filed the FOIA request, tells the Free Beacon.
"He also noted, however, that if anyone was to turn up their noses and refuse the training — and be permitted to — these are the folks. We now know this to be the case."
The snub also sent a negative message to those who worked for her, one critic said, calling the lack of training "sadly unsurprising."
"It is unfortunately not uncommon for people who think a lot of themselves (this can go way below the secretary level) to say 'I’m too busy/important/smart to actually do this stuff that common workers are required to do,'" Steve Bucci, the director of the Heritage Foundation's Douglas and Sarah Allison Center for Foreign and National Security Policy, tells the Free Beacon.
"Federal regulations require everyone to do that sort of training, everyone. If a senior executive, government or civilian, does not take security training they are making a huge mistake."
"That sends a message that security is, in fact, unimportant to the organization," he adds.
Horner tells the Free Beacon the documentation showing Clinton hadn't taken the IT training came more than a week after the the 20-day statutory window for a response.
Neither Clinton nor the State Department commented, the Free Beacon reports.
It's the latest slam against the leading Democratic White House contender's stint as Secretary of State. She's also drawn fire for use of a private email server run out of her Chappaqua, N.Y., home, leaving her emails open to possible cyber breaches.
Though Clinton says she didn't send or get classified information through her two personal email addresses, hdr22@clintonemail.com and hrod17@clintonemail.com, the State Department has said she did receive information that was subsequently declared to be classified by the FBI.
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© 2015 Newsmax. All rights reserved.The lack of training was revealed after the Competitive Enterprise Institute filed a Freedom of Information Act request to see the documentation; the State Department replied it couldn't find any record of Clinton, chief of staff Cheryl Mills, or deputy chief of staff Huma Abedin getting any IT security training, the Free Beacon reports.
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"He also noted, however, that if anyone was to turn up their noses and refuse the training — and be permitted to — these are the folks. We now know this to be the case."
The snub also sent a negative message to those who worked for her, one critic said, calling the lack of training "sadly unsurprising."
"It is unfortunately not uncommon for people who think a lot of themselves (this can go way below the secretary level) to say 'I’m too busy/important/smart to actually do this stuff that common workers are required to do,'" Steve Bucci, the director of the Heritage Foundation's Douglas and Sarah Allison Center for Foreign and National Security Policy, tells the Free Beacon.
"That sends a message that security is, in fact, unimportant to the organization," he adds.
Horner tells the Free Beacon the documentation showing Clinton hadn't taken the IT training came more than a week after the the 20-day statutory window for a response.
Neither Clinton nor the State Department commented, the Free Beacon reports.
It's the latest slam against the leading Democratic White House contender's stint as Secretary of State. She's also drawn fire for use of a private email server run out of her Chappaqua, N.Y., home, leaving her emails open to possible cyber breaches.
Though Clinton says she didn't send or get classified information through her two personal email addresses, hdr22@clintonemail.com and hrod17@clintonemail.com, the State Department has said she did receive information that was subsequently declared to be classified by the FBI.
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