The UK’s Daily Mail reported on October 31 that a laptop abandoned by Hunter Biden contained a treasure trove of top-secret information, including his father’s private email and mobile phone numbers.
Hunter Biden opted to protect his MacBook Pro – stuffed with what one IT expert last night described as a “national security nightmare” and “classic blackmail material” – with a simple password: Hunter02.
Remarkably, the 50-year-old businessman and self-confessed drug addict took the machine to a backstreet IT shop in Delaware in April 2019 for repairs – yet never returned to pick it up.
The New York Post revealed its existence last month, but its staggering size and sensitive content – easily accessible to hackers with a certain level of skill – is a fact that was only revealed for the first time today.
The material, which was not encrypted or protected by, for example, basic double authentication, included the following.
-Joe Biden’s personal cell phone number and three private email addresses, as well as the names of his Secret Service agents.
-The cell phone numbers of former President Bill Clinton, his wife Hillary, and nearly every member of former President Barack Obama’s cabinet.
-The contact database of 1,500 people, including actress Gwyneth Paltrow, Coldplay singer Chris Martin, former presidential candidate John Kerry, and former FBI Director Louis Freeh.
-Hunter’s personal documents such as passports, driver’s licenses, Social Security cards, credit cards and bank statements.
-The details of Hunt’s drug and sex problems include $21,000 spent on a “live” porn site, as well as selfies of him having sex and snorting cocaine.
Last night, IT expert Chris Greaney said it was “shocking” that the laptop had not been encrypted.
The former police commander, who has advised successive British foreign ministers on laptop security, said: “This is about data breaches and it’s dangerous to have this type of material going around,” he said.
“For a prominent person, if the data falls into the wrong hands, there is not only the potential for huge reputational damage, but also the potential for blackmail.”
The scandals will send shockwaves through Biden’s campaign.
Trump blamed mainstream America and social media giants for ignoring – and even burying – the Hunt laptop incident.
He claims that liberal, pro-Democratic elites are “protecting” his rival.
Hunt’s laptop contained 11 gigabytes of material covering the period from Biden’s vice presidency under Obama to the time Hunt dropped it off at a Mac store in Wilmington.
A small portion of it was leaked to the media by Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani, sparking unconfirmed claims that the material may have been fabricated by Russia to undermine Biden’s White House bid.
It has also been suggested that the laptop and its contents were a hoax created by China to undermine Mr. Biden.
However, neither Hunt nor his father have questioned the laptop being left in a Delaware store, nor the authenticity of the laptop material that has appeared in the media so far.
Evidence seen by The Post on Sunday seemed to confirm that Hunter left the laptop in the store and that the FBI subsequently picked it up.
Last night, Hunt’s lawyer declined to comment.
A representative for Mr. Biden did not respond to multiple requests for comment from the paper.
A forensic cyber expert hired to analyze the material downloaded from the laptop said the laptop was authentic.
The expert, who has worked with US law enforcement agencies, said: “I have been doing this work for 20 years and there is no indication that the laptop or its contents have been interfered with or altered in any way.
“There’s no indication that any data has been added. There’s no doubt in my mind that this is the real thing.”
One of Hunt’s former associates, Tony Bobrinsky, claims he was interviewed by FBI agents in Washington on Oct. 23 and turned over cell phone records that matched the material on the laptop during that meeting.
Last night, a source familiar with the contents of the MacBook Pro said: “The amount of personal and financial information suggests that Hunter has been a potential blackmail target for years.”
“It’s almost inconceivable that Hunter Biden, the son of the man who could very well be our next president, could be so naive and reckless as to not have basic encryption or even a two-level password to protect such highly sensitive information.”
The information stored on the laptop included the names and cell phone numbers of contacts sent to Hunter by Biden’s staff in the White House office in June 2015.
In addition to the Clintons, there were phone numbers for two of America’s most powerful political leaders – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell.
An earlier email from November 2011 listed the names and cell phone numbers of Secret Service details from when Biden was vice president.
A source said, “This is all a blatant breach of (national) security.”
“If a hostile nation or individual had managed to hack into Hunter’s computer – which would not have been difficult given the lack of security on the computer – they would have easily found out who was protecting the vice president and potentially threatened the families of those Secret Service agents,”
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