We keep hearing that Donald Trump is continuing to use his original, unsecured Android smartphone while in the White House. Now Democratic Sens. Claire McCaskill and Tom Carper have written a letter to Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis asking him to explain what the hell is up with that.
McCaskill and Carper say that the recent reports suggesting that the president may still be using his old device were “troubling” — in part because it doesn’t leave a record of what he’s been saying. “While it is important for the President to have the ability to communicate electronically,” the letter reads, “it is equally important that he does so in a manner that is secure and that ensures the preservation of presidential records.”
The even more obvious problem with using the unsecured phone is, of course, security. Images of Trump staffers holding up smartphones to examine documents about a North Korean missile launch immediately caused consternation among those who wondered whether holding up devices with attached digital cameras and pointing them directly at presumably sensitive paperwork was, well, stupid. With the ease with which unsecured phones can be hacked by competent non-state hackers, if Donald Trump is walking around the Oval Office with an unsecured phone on his desk or in his pocket it's essentially acting as a microphone. The White House might not be keeping track of Trump's conversations—but somebody else might be.
McCaskill and Carper are specifically asking Mattis to clarify what protective steps the Defense Information Systems Agency is taking to deal with Trump's use of his unsecured phone, as well as what steps are being taken to ensure conversations on the device are preserved in accordance with the Presidential Records act. We seem to be past the point of asking that Donald man up and use a secured phone like a grown-up leader might, so now we're reduced to asking what extravagant steps are going to be required to roughly approximate a secure situation without his help.
They've asked for a response from Mattis by March 9.