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President Trump has spent the bulk of his 2016 campaign arguing that Hillary Clinton's private messaging server presented a serious problem. People attending her rallies regularly chanted, "Let's lock her up." You would think that would mean that he would take cybersecurity seriously in his own government.
But as it became clear Thursday, the first son-in-law Jared Kushner used the Facebook messaging application, WhatsApp, to conduct his business at the White House.
"During a meeting with Mr. Kushner's lawyer, Abbe Lowell, Mr. Lowell confirmed that Mr. Kushner was using the WhatsApp messaging application as part of his official duties to communicate with foreign leaders, "wrote Elijah Cummings, chairman of the house's oversight committee, D-Md., in a letter sent to the White House on Thursday. "
The same letter raised concerns that White House staff were using personal e-mails for official purposes and that the White House had not honored the requests for papers presented by the bipartisan Congress. .
[[[[Read also: Ivanka Trump used a private email account to discuss the official affairs of the White House]
Although WhatsApp is popular for its encrypted e-mail service, it does not provide adequate security for sensitive government businesses. It has vulnerabilities that can be exploited. Under the Presidential Archives Act and the Federal Archives Act, it is also forbidden to use official channels, where they can be archived and recorded as needed.
These laws provide that official communications on personal accounts may be transferred to the official account within 20 days, and Kushner's attorney indicated that he did so by transmitting screenshots. However, even the most diligent screen captures can capture only snippets of conversations. They fail to provide context. They do not include clickable links or contact information. At best, they are fragmentary records.
Also, since these conversations took place on an unofficial personal account, any determination of the missing records would require scrolling past discussions and messages that could be deleted by the user.
Obviously, these practices are just as unacceptable today as Hillary Clinton used them. Trump can not look away without looking ridiculous.
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