DHS: The State Department Kept Hillary's Private Server From Us, Too

Raise your hand if you're even remotely surprised by this. The State Department is still dragging its feet in complying with a federal judge's high-profile order

pertaining to the timely release of Hillary Clinton's long-withheld emails (the ones she didn't unilaterally delete, at least). Recent reporting has also exposed the dysfunction and shoddiness of the agency's archiving practices and virtual security measures, so of course they shirked bureaucratic responsibilities like this, even within the national security realm:

The State Department does not appear to have submitted legally required information regarding Hillary Clinton's secret computer server to the Department of Homeland Security during her term as secretary, FoxNews.com has learned. All federal government agencies are mandated to submit a list of systems, vulnerabilities and configuration issues to DHS every 30 days. The department then performs a "cyberscope audit" to ensure security, a responsibility the agency has had since 2010...The DHS established the "Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation" program in 2010, amid growing concerns government systems could be vulnerable to cyber attack. But Clinton's computer server, through which she and key aides sent and received tens of thousands of emails, was apparently never audited, according to DHS, which conducted a comprehensive search of Office of Cyber Security and Communications records after FoxNews.com lodged its request.

While we're on the subject of securing sensitive state secrets from prying eyes, Hillary Clinton must still account for the fact that she was never issued government-secured portable devices, ranging from laptops to tablets to cell phones. Clinton originally claimed that the purpose of her private, unsecure server was the convenience of using just a single mobile device. This turned out to be untrue. But were the contents of her unsecure server -- including classified materials, something else she'd denied -- put at further risk by her decision to carry around her own electronics? If the State Department didn't furnish her with a fully encrypted phone, what steps did Mrs. Clinton take to thwart and frustrate the efforts of adversaries who no doubt sought access to all of her technological devices? Was she granted permission to do so? Were any outside efforts at encryption up to snuff for someone with her security clearance? One might hope that the answers to these latter questions is 'yes,' but keep in mind that her 'home-brew' email server was terribly under-protected, and wholly

unprotected for a span of three months. It eventually ended up being housed in the bathroom closet of a small-time IT firm that lacked the security clearances to handle top secret information. Confronted with these types of questions, the Clinton campaign is spitting out garbage spin, top aides are offering lame and parsed excuses, and the candidate herself is fluctuating between tone-deaf jokes and abject petulance. No wonder the White House is "nervous" about her erratic and amateurish performance:

And on that note, it's getting real, folks -- literally:

Top Democratic fundraisers invited to meet with Joe Biden at Naval Observatory, @mateagold reports http://t.co/NVor5heooG
— Aaron Blake (@AaronBlakeWP) August 24, 2015