Goodlatte: Clinton Advisor’s Use of Laptop Made by a Chinese Company Raises National Security Concerns

“It seems clear that Secretary Clinton and her associates played fast and loose with our national security, and yet no one has been held accountable.”Washington, D.C. – House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) today raised concerns to Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director James Comey about a top Clinton advisor’s use of laptops made by a company with long-suspected Chinese government ties and intelligence concerns to store and sort former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s emails. The latest round of documents provided by the FBI on the Clinton investigation reveals that Heather Samuelson, former White House Liaison to the State Department, used laptops manufactured by a Chinese company, Lenovo, to perform the sorting of emails to determine which of Secretary Clinton’s emails were work-related or personal. Lenovo computers, and specifically the models used by Heather Samuelson for reviewing classified emails, have been shown by the Department of Homeland Security to contain software that permits remote hacking attacks.  And for a decade, the State Department has banned the use of Lenovo computers from the Department’s networks that handle classified information. In the letter to Director Comey, Chairman Goodlatte calls on him to provide detailed information about Samuelson’s use of Lenovo laptops, whether classified emails sent or received by Secretary Clinton were exploited by the Chinese government, and if anyone else with access to Secretary Clinton’s private email server used Lenovo computers.  Below is the text of the letter. The signed copy can be found here.

October 21, 2016 The Honorable James Comey Director Federal Bureau of Investigation 935 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC20535 Dear Director Comey: As you know, the House Judiciary Committee is conducting a review of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) investigation into former Secretary Clinton’s use of a private email server to transmit classified information.  In response to Congressional requests, the FBI has released documents relating to the investigation, including transcribed interview notes, or “302s.”  Among other things, the FBI 302s contain extremely worrisome information that questions whether Secretary Clinton’s emails were obtained by the Chinese government – before the State Department, FBI, or any other agency had redacted Top Secret and Special Access Program (SAP) information. This information is so highly classified that even Congressional oversight committees were not able to review the emails. Our latest concern stems from the use of laptops manufactured by a Chinese company, Lenovo, to perform the sorting of emails to determine which of Secretary Clinton’s emails were work-related or personal.  The FBI 302s show that computers used by Heather Samuelson, former White House Liaison to the State Department, for sorting through Secretary Clinton’s emails were Lenovo laptops.  Lenovo computers, and specifically the models used by Heather Samuelson for reviewing classified emails, have been shown by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to contain software, dating back to 2010, that permits remote hacking attacks.  The New York Times has reported on malware that was preinstalled in Lenovo Yoga laptops “that tracks its customers’ every move online.”  Moreover, going back to 2006, the State Department – Secretary Clinton’s own agency, at which Ms. Samuelson was employed – agreed to ban the use of Lenovo computers from the Department’s networks that handle classified information. With this new information now publicly revealed, please answer the following questions:

1. Did the FBI consider the manufacturing origin of the Lenovo laptops when investigating whether any classified emails sent or received by Secretary Clinton were exploited by the Chinese government?
2. It has been reported that various U.S. and international intelligence agencies, including CIA, NSA, and the U.K.’s MI6, have banned the use of Lenovo computers in their classified systems.  Does the FBI use or recommend the use of Lenovo computers for use with classified information?
   1. If the FBI refuses to use Lenovo computers for its own business, does that mean you would not have recommended the use of Lenovo computers for sorting through emails that may have – and in actuality, did – contain classified information?
3. In the course of the FBI’s investigation into Secretary Clinton’s emails which were sent over unclassified servers, did you inquire into the use by the State Department, or anyone with access to Secretary Clinton’s personal server, whether Lenovo computers were used for sending, receiving, storing, or back-end management of Secretary Clinton’s or her associates’ communications or other documents?
   1. If so, did the FBI review whether any of these Lenovo computers were used to transmit emails that were eventually found to be classified?
4. The FBI 302s reveal that Ms. Samuelson used two separate Lenovo laptops to conduct the sorting and deletion of emails.
   1. Did the FBI review both Lenovo laptops during the course of its investigation?
   2. Did you find classified information on emails that were sorted with Ms. Samuelson’s Lenovo laptops?
   3. While we understand that you agreed to destroy one of the laptops at the end of your investigation, pursuant to Ms. Samuelson’s immunity agreement, do you still have in your possession either of Ms. Samuelson’s Lenovo laptops?

I look forward to expeditiously receiving the answers to these significant questions, to permit the American people to better understand the FBI’s decision regarding Secretary Clinton’s conduct.  It seems clear that Secretary Clinton and her associates played fast and loose with our national security, and yet no one – not a single person involved in this harmful fiasco – has been held accountable.  Thank you for your attention to this important matter. Sincerely, Bob Goodlatte