As we have been reading for the past 6 months, Karl Rove established a clandestine system of e-mail domains (gwb43.com, rnchq.com, georgewbush.com) used by senior White House officials which violated the Presidential Records Act. The system appears to have been set up to shield what should have been official government from public or Congressional scrutiny.
Rove and other White House aides have a reputation as being prolific e-mailers and habitual BlackBerry users, so yesterday's revelation that the National Security Council is considering banning White House BlackBerry use (h/t Froomkin) due to the possibility of electronic espionage by foreign powers should have him worried.
It would seem Rove helped the Chinese or the Russians.
Or at least made things a heck of a lot easier for them - and maybe opened himself up to blackmail too.
How? Because Rove's RNC system sent government information coursing down RNC pipes and computer infrastructure, which would be a whole lot less protected than the official government e-mail system he chose to bypass.
So let's recap today's headline. NSC is worrying about BlackBerry use among White House staffers - because BlackBerries are not secure. And Karl was one of the biggest BlackBerry users at the White House.
I diaried the implications of the RNC-funded system and questionable security some time ago in "Karl Rove and GWB43.COM - Huge National Security Threat?".
The White House is a huge target for electronic espionage by friendly and hostile foreign powers. For those of you who may have visited Washington, this may be evident when you stroll by the various embassies scattered around the city -- with their unusual sculptures of antennas and wires on their roofs. The Russians have a compound just three blocks north of the White House.
As you read, I would have to guess (but I have absolutely no knowlegde if this is true or not) that foreign intelligence services have already paid thorough visits to the various servers that are operated by the RNC down in Chattanooga. You know, GWB43.com. RNCHQ.COM. Bobcorker.com. Why? Well, it's been made pretty clear that Karl Rove conducts business through those domains. 95% of his business. And so do other senior White House staff. If you were a foreign spy, wouldn't you be interested? And might it be a possibility, that MAYBE the RNC servers aren't quite as secure as the government servers? MAYBE?
Now we learn that the Chinese armed forces have penetrated the e-mail in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. Did Karl give them a first "easy" target by being careless and criminal with White House e-mail? Do they know all his inner secrets and tricks (elections stolen, "the math" tabulated, etc) from e-mails he safely thought were stowed away or destroyed at the RNC? Is it good to have a senior advisor to the President under a possible blackmail cloud by foreign powers?
Time will tell.