Hillary Clinton’s server was attacked multiple times by the Russians (h/t Ace)!

BREAKING: Emails show Russia-linked hackers tried at least 5 times to break into Clinton private server.

— The Associated Press (@AP) September 30, 2015

The Associated Press got a hold of several emails showing how the hackers attempted to get into her system.

Clinton received the infected emails, disguised as speeding tickets, over four hours early on the morning of Aug. 3, 2011. The emails instructed recipients to print the attached tickets, which would have allowed hackers to take control of their computers.

Security researchers who analyzed the malicious software in September 2011 said that infected computers would transmit information from victims to at least three server computers overseas, including one in Russia. That doesn’t necessarily mean Russian intelligence or citizens were responsible.

To quote Gomer Pyle, “Surprise, surprise, surprise.” Not really because it’d be more surprising if Russia (or China) didn’t try to get into Clinton’s not-so-secret server. It raises questions about how good of a company Platte River Networks is and whether Clinton or one of her assistants were smart enough to not click on the .zip files in the emails. Russian and Chinese hackers have been going after the federal government for a while. The OPM hack forced the CIA to pull agents out of China. One official told The Washington Post it was being done to keep agents safe.

Because the OPM records contained the background checks of State Department employees, officials privately said the Chinese could have compared those records with the list of embassy personnel. Anybody not on that list could be a CIA officer.

The CIA’s move was meant to safeguard officers whose agency affiliation might be discovered as a result of the hack, said officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter.

What’s interesting is the emails on the Clinton server don’t say if there were any successful attacks. It’s completely possible the government is delaying releasing that information because they don’t want to cause even more of an embarrassment to Clinton over this lunacy. But it wouldn’t be surprising at all if Russia (or China) did get a peek into what was on her computer. Secretary of State John Kerry told CBS last month he was pretty sure his emails were being read.

“Unfortunately, we’re living in a world where a number of countries, China and Russia included, have consistently been engaged in cyberattacks against American interests, against American government…It’s very possible … and I certainly write things with that awareness.”

It’d be nice if someone in the media were to ask Clinton if she was sure her email server was secure, especially after news of the attempted hacking got out. The FBI is already looking to see just how secure Clinton’s server was, along with that thumb drive of David Kendall’s. His comment to The Washington Post back in August was to downplay it.

“The government is seeking assurance about the storage of those materials. We are actively cooperating.”

There’s no way to downplay this anymore. Clinton’s server was attacked at least five times, and who knows if it was attacked more. It just goes to show the entire “Clintons gonna Clinton” strategy of trying to keep secrets from coming out in the open appears to be failing. Are there going to be charges? That’s up to the Justice Department, and the jury’s still out on that. But this is definitely an embarrassment to the Clintons. It’s a little amusing (funny, “Oh good Odin, no” not funny “ha ha”) that this is happening. There were people who believed Clinton’s private server was a way for her to keep information from getting out. This obviously isn’t the case because we now know it was attacked, along with the rest of the U.S. government. The investigation into the attempted hacking also needs to look at the emails of Huma Abedin and Cheryl Mills. Mills had at least one email which was neither state.gov or clintonemail.com. The hackers could have used that email as a way to get into Clinton’s server or at least figure out a way to get in.

The only concern is whether or not this will actually cause any problems for her presidential campaign. It’s still Fall 2015 and the election isn’t for a year (that’s of course if she makes it past the Democratic primary). The only way for this to stay in the public’s eye is for the GOP to keep hammering away on this so the public doesn’t forget. But the GOP is going to have to be smart about it, and find that delicate balance between reminding people and bashing them over the head with it. If they do the former, then it’ll stick in the back of the minds of voters. If they do the latter, all it’s going to do is cause voters to just get that glazed over look in their eyes of, “who cares?” But they should care, because if Clinton’s server was attacked five times, who knows what secrets the Bear (and maybe the Dragon) got?