By Natalia Castro
The Democratic Party has already been surrounded by scandal thanks to internet hackers leaking damaging emails and files from the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) information, but now thanks to Guccifer 2.0 Hillary Clinton and the Clinton Foundation are again at the center of the debate.
With Guccifer 2.0 leaking critical information alleging to be a part of the Clinton Foundation’s pay to play scheme, both Democrats and the Clintons are being forced to answer corruption charges once again.
Guccifer 2.0 is an Internet hacker from Romania, responsible for the initial hacking of the DNC and the DCCC and is now claiming responsibility for an Oct. 4, 2016 hack of the Clinton Foundation’s documents and donors’ databases.
Among the pictures uploaded to the Guccifer 2.0 blog is a list of folders the Clinton Foundation is said to have on their software, including a folder entitled “Pay to Play”. This appears to refer to the Clinton and Clinton Foundation scandal in which she planned Secretary of State visits and appointments with individuals who made generous contributions to the Clinton Foundation.
The Associated Press unveiled this practice in Aug. 2016, where they explained that “At least 85 of 154 people from private interests who met or had phone conversations scheduled with Clinton while she led the State Department donated to her family charity or pledged commitments to its international programs, according to a review of State Department calendars released so far to The Associated Press. Combined, the 85 donors contributed as much as $156 million.”
However, the Clinton Foundation officials have already been quick to dismiss this hacking as a hoax claiming, “We still have no evidence Clinton Foundation systems were breached and have not been notified by law enforcement of an issue. None of the folders or files shown are from the Clinton Foundation.”
The Hill reporter Katie Bo Williams continues her report on the possible hoax by explaining that many of the documents appear to be consistent with DCCC server information previously released in Guccifer 2.0’s last hacking expedition. Adding to the DCCC corruption issue as, if true, the “Pay to Play” folder would seemingly be their responsibility.
The situation does not end there, while the Clinton Foundation might claim that there is no evidence of a hacking, this is not the first time this has occurred.
In June Bloomberg reported government investigators stating that Guccifer 2.0 had in fact. successfully hacked into the Clinton Foundation sever. Thousands of documents were expected to be released ranging from “gossip about world leaders and Hollywood stars” to “Donor information and opposition research on Trump”.
Is Guccifer 2.0’s latest claims the beginning of those disclosures? Or is this week’s release simply an extension of the June DNC and DCCC cyber breaches?
While this week’s breach of the Clinton Foundation server might have been a hoax, the “Pay to Play” file folder had to come from somewhere. What was in it, we wonder? As the Clintons hopefully now realize the importance of securing their servers, Guccifer 2.0’s latest attack once again damages both the Clintons and the Democratic Committees, who are forced to defend themselves against a continued torrent of corruption charges in the closing weeks of the election until November arrives.
Natalia Castro is a contributing editor at Americans for Limited Government.
