Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah.

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

The Secret Service has computer systems that are neglected and rife with bad management, according to a report by the Office of Inspector General (OIG) at the Department of Homeland Security.

The OIG launched an investigation into the Secret Service after employees breached the computer systems and leaked personal information about Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Republican, in retaliation for investigating agents’ misconduct, the Washington Post reports.

“Despite past warnings, USSS (U.S. Secret Service) is still unable to assure us their IT systems are safe,” Chaffetz said, citing the report.

The problems went well beyond the Chaffetz case.

According to the report, the “audit uncovers a myriad of problems with Secret Service’s IT management including inadequate system security plans, systems with expired authorities to operate, inadequate access and audit controls, noncompliance with logical access requirements, inadequate privacy protections, and over-retention of records. The OIG concluded that Secret Service’s IT management was ineffective because Secret Service has historically not given it priority. The Secret Service CIO’s (Chief Information Officer) Office lacked authority, inadequate attention was given to updating IT policies, and Secret Service personnel were not given adequate training regarding IT security and privacy.”

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

Fears that hackers would target the U.S. election were assuaged late Tuesday after no evidence of attacks or intrusions were suspected.

Homeland Security said it fielded no reports of cyber breaches, the USA Today reports. 

Still, the threat of a cyberattack appeared to discourage voters, who expressed much less confidence that their vote would count, according to exit polls.

“All the discussions this year about security gave states another measure of protection,” said Pamela Smith, president of Verified Voting, a non-partisan, non-profit organization that advocates for elections accuracy.

Ex-Gov. Mike Huckabee

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee just couldn’t resist making a racist remark on Election night.

Before the votes were counted, Huckabee tweeted that Hillary Clinton, if elected, would “appoint her Filipino maid” as head of the CIA, Huffington Post reports. 

It appears to be a reference to Marina Santos, Clinton’s maid, who was responsible for printing some of Clinton’s emails at her home. None of those e-mails contained classified information.

Nevertheless, Huckabee targeted Clinton’s maid as an apparent joke, albeit an offensive one.

If HRC wins she will appoint her Filipino maid to head CIA. She already has access to all the secrets anyway. No need to train her.

— Gov. Mike Huckabee (@GovMikeHuckabee) November 9, 2016

Other Stories of Interest

• FBI Probes Letter about Racial Violence in Charleston During 2 Trials
• Border Patrol Rescues 16 Undocumented Immigrants in Rio Grande Valley
• Secret Service Adding Extra Security at Pence’s Home
• Secret Service Orders People Out of Trees Near White House
• Retired ATF Agents Offers Glimpse into Dark World

Director James B. Comey

By Editorial Board
Boston Globe

At least the FBI got the last act of its October fiasco right. On Sunday afternoon, two days before Election Day, director James B. Comey wrote in a letter to Congress that the bureau had finished its review of thousands upon thousands of e-mails related to Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton’s server, and that no criminal charges would be recommended. The bureau does deserve credit for working so rapidly, and giving the American people a bit more clarity after it cryptically disclosed the new inquiry a little over a week ago.

The bottom line: Comey’s conclusion from an earlier investigation stands. Clinton should not have used her own server while Secretary of State, which made her communications vulnerable to hacking, but her mistakes were not criminal. There is no evidence that national secrets were stolen, or that anyone was harmed as a result of her e-mail setup. She has still rightly apologized for her actions.

So things stand where they were in July, when Comey said that because there was no evidence of criminal intent, no reasonable prosecutor would charge Clinton in the case. The hyperventilating from Republican nominee Donald J. Trump aside, it could not be clearer that Clinton’s e-mail practices do not disqualify her for the presidency, then or now.

But the bureau’s diligence over the last week doesn’t erase serious questions about its conduct, which should come under greater scrutiny from lawmakers after the election. There are plausible suggestions that at least some members of the bureau acted out of partisan motivations that have no place in law enforcement, and that Comey made an error in judgment disclosing the new review’s existence in a letter noteworthy for its vagueness and innuendo. Comey’s communique was one that — by virtue of its timing alone — demanded clarity, and his effort was anything but.

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