Congressman Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) has asked the House Oversight Committee to investigate whether or not President Trump is jeopardizing national security by using an unsecured Android mobile device.
In a letter dated February 14 to committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) and Ranking Member Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), Lieu made a request to hold hearings on Trump's use of an unsecured, consumer- grade Android smartphone during a recent meeting held at his Mar-A-Lago club in Florida. Lieu also wants the committee to check if Trump's staff is using secure devices and following proper cybersecurity protocols.
Lieu's line of questioning primarily focuses on holes in the administration's use of electronic devices, but he also touched upon physical, or kinetic, security flaws.
“Cybersecurity experts universally agree that an ordinary Android smartphone, which the President is reportedly using despite repeated warnings from the Secret Service, can be easily hacked,” Lieu said, adding that he is also concerned about published reports that Trump also breached basic security rules by discussing nuclear strategy with Japanese President Shinzo Abe in a public, non-secure, environment.
The request follows a similar inquiry made by Chaffetz to the White House earlier this week that asked for an accounting of the security measures in place at the Florida resort. “Accounts and photographs from other diners seem to indicate these communications occurred in the presence of other guests,” Chaffetz wrote to Chief of Staff Reince Priebus.
In the letter, Lieu delivered eight questions that he would like the committee to investigate, including if the president is using an unsecured Android device, has the president and his staff been instructed on the dangers of foreign entities monitoring White House communications through unsecured networks, and whether cybersecurity and national security practices are active and in place for the president and his staff.
SC Media's request for comment on the letter to Rep. Chaffetz had not been received as of press time.
