This country has gone through a period in which Donald Trump has been the victim of the most violent crime recognizable and he is again a victim – along with running-mate JD Vance of a targeted attack on their phones by the Chinese hackers – presumably working for the Chinese government, according to a new report breaking in The New York Times. This is as bipartisan as the assassination attempts – no room for politics at all, this is where Americans come together. Get used to it with respect to the Chinese government.
Our election cycles are sensitive enough when we’re left alone as a nation. We cannot tolerate any interference by a foreign government, especially one as sophisticated as the Chinese. The FBI seems to be commended again for uncovering such a severe national threat. According to the Times:
The type of information on phones used by a presidential candidate and his running mate could be a gold mine for an intelligence agency: Who they called and texted, how often they communicated with certain people, and how long they talked to those people could be highly valuable to an adversary like China. That sort of communications data could be even more useful if hackers could observe it in real time.
Obviously. A Chinese hacker could easily use the information to either prepare for a possible new dynamic in U.S. governance, possible plans for foreign relations, all according to pre-election plans. Or such information could be as nefarious as simply blackmailing them. The blackmail could extend to something perfectly legal like discussions with Elon Musk, or Rupert Murdoch. Even such innocuous calls could be used to embarrass or harass a possible future president and vice-president. It is intolerable.
As apolitical as this concern might be, the Trump campaign is using it to play politics… somewhat:
A Trump campaign spokesman did not directly address whether the phones used by Mr. Trump and Mr. Vance had been targeted. But in a statement, the spokesman, Steven Cheung, criticized the White House and Vice President Kamala Harris and sought to blame them for allowing a foreign adversary to target the campaign.
Right. Except whose security services warned the campaigns and then busted up the attempts? If the FBI and other security services sought to favor one side or the other, no one would have heard of the hack to begin with. We cannot be sure of much in this hyper-partisan age but it sure seems like we can count on the DOJ and FBI (Along with the other three-letter agencies) to root out problems such as this without playing any politics. It wasn’t long ago that the government also exposed Iranians targeting the Trump campaign’s emails.
The report doesn’t state much about how successful the attack may have been, whether the Chinese government could or could not read texts or listen to calls. It sure seems likely that someone would know – just not us. Fine.
The point is that this really isn’t up for political debate nor analysis. Both Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have access to the most reliably secure phones in existence – those of top government officials. Presumably, Trump as an ex-president would at least have that same access. So there is a question left hanging. Are the Chinese just that good? Or is it that this nation needs to invest more in cyber-security for campaigns? Because this simply cannot happen. Yet it did and it may be no one’s fault except the Chinese.
To that end, the Biden administration should – and probably will – demand answers. When the Russians interfered in the 2016 election, President Obama leveled sanctions almost immediately. Something similar might be in order now.
It is too early to tell. It is too late to cover some damages. Time to really clamp down so as to avoid more.
God Bless:Â I can be reached at [email protected] and @JasonMiciak
Could it be that tRump and JD might be using other phones, than the secure ones that are government provided?
Wait, didn’t he refuse to use the gov. provided one while in office?
precisely.
After four years of Trump being at the top…anything is possible.