Republicans Are Reportedly Using a Self-Destructing Message App To Avoid Leaks (theverge.com)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Verge: Trump administration members and other Republicans are using the encrypted, self-destructing messaging app Confide to keep conversations private in the wake of hacks and leaks, according to Jonathan Swan and David McCabe at Axios. Axios writes that "numerous senior GOP operatives and several members of the Trump administration" have downloaded Confide, which automatically wipes messages after they're read. One operative told Axios that the app "provides some cover" for people in the party. He ties it to last year's hack of the Democratic National Committee, which led to huge and damaging information dumps of DNC emails leading up to the 2016 election. But besides outright hacks, the source also said he liked the fact that Confide makes it difficult to screenshot messages, because only a few words are shown at a time. That suggests that it's useful not just for reducing paper trails, but for stopping insiders from preserving individual messages -- especially given the steady flow of leaks that have come out since Trump took office. As Axios notes, official White House business is subject to preservation rules, although we don't know much about who's allegedly using Confide and what they're doing with it, so it's not clear whether this might run afoul of those laws. It's also difficult to say how much this is a specifically Republican phenomenon, and how much is a general move toward encryption.

Comments

Isn't this illegal?

[rsilvergun]

Aren't they required to conduct all government business on government systems? Didn't Hilary got a whole lot of crap (and lose an election) over this?

Welp, they're in charge so I guess they get to make the rules, but did they even bother to change the laws first?

Re:Isn't this illegal?

[quantaman]

Aren't they required to conduct all government business on government systems? Didn't Hilary got a whole lot of crap (and lose an election) over this?

Welp, they're in charge so I guess they get to make the rules, but did they even bother to change the laws first?

Trump and the GOP are hypocrites?

That's unpossible!

Re:Isn't this illegal?

[Carewolf]

Aren't they required to conduct all government business on government systems? Didn't Hilary got a whole lot of crap (and lose an election) over this?

Welp, they're in charge so I guess they get to make the rules, but did they even bother to change the laws first?

Yes, it is. And what Hillary was accused of by the Republicans.

But.. Hillary's emails.

Re: Isn't this illegal?

[MightyMartian]

When was Hillary Clinton POTUS so she could do these terrible things from her high position of power that you speak of.

Seriously, you're left defending Trump by creating an imaginary Hillary Clinton presidency to point to. But it doesn't work like that. Trump claimed to be draining the swamp, but I guess what he really meant is that he was going to make a new swamp, twice is smelly and with him right at the moment.

Re:Isn't this illegal?

[MightyMartian]

Well, McCain, at the sunset of his political career, clearly is in a "I don't give a fuck what anyone thinks" kind of mood, and while McConnell remains somewhat deferential, he doesn't seem at all thrilled with the Administration either. Mind you, that really was the intent of the Senate, that Senators' longer terms and one-third per election was meant as a partial insulator of the sort of electoral winds that preoccupy the House and the White House.

Still, you're right. The GOP leadership have become a sort of modern group of von Papens, staring on impotently in disbelief as the new leader shocks and awes everyone. The chief difference is of course the historical leader I speak of actually seemed to have some notion of what he's doing, whereas Trump literally does seem to be stumbling around blindly. That shocks me because we've all been told countless times what brilliant people the likes of Bannon and Conway are, and yet, as so often is revealed, those that are skillful at achieving power are often astonishingly bad at its application.

My prediction is that Conway, Bannon and Spicer are not long for this world. Not only are there rumors floating around that the Kushners are in a tug of war with Bannon, but even without that, Bannon's use of his newfound influence to push through Executive Orders is making Trump look foolish and unprepared, and as we know, nothing is ever Donald Trump's fault, so we know when Trump looks foolish, he looks for fall guys. Just look at Paul Manafort's take.

If I believed Trump wasn't an idiot, I'd almost wonder if letting Bannon and Conway fuck up so badly was part of a plan that would end in a Trumpesque version of the Night of the Long Knives.

Re: Isn't this illegal?

[currently_awake]

In the private language of Big Business Moguls, "The Swamp" is their name for government interference in their ability to make money.

I wonder

[TFlan91]

I wonder if they still want that backdoor to that encryption sitting there for someone to stumble on...

Re:Don't care anymore

[Faluzeer]

it's Republicans doing it so it's OK.

Whilst I believe you are being facetious, your post outlines the problems with partisan political supporters (of all sides), they consider something to be wrong only if it is done by those they don't support.

If you're doing nothing wrong

[HalAtWork]

"If you're doing nothing wrong then you've got nothing to hide"... is that how the saying goes?

Re:Don't care anymore

[coastwalker]

Whether it is right or wrong all criminal organisations adopt a policy of destroying records. That way there is no incriminating evidence left lying around. Trump certainly knows how to behave like a gangster.