Kushner - Another Violation?

In February, according to Politico, former White House press secretary Sean Spicer ordered staffers to hand over their phones for a spot check aimed at cracking down on leaks to reporters. During the phone check, Spicer reportedly warned staffers not to use encrypted texting apps. While the presence of confidential texting apps on a staffer’s phone presumably raised suspicions about exactly what he or she was trying to hide, and from whom, Spicer specifically warned that using Signal was a violation of the [Presidential Records] act.

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But a phone number belonging to Kushner is registered in Signal (the app permits users to see which numbers in their contacts also use it).

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A tweet from Elizabeth Spiers, who once worked for Kushner as editor-in-chief of the New York Observer, suggests Kushner downloaded the encrypted messaging app at the end of January just four days before his dad-in-law officially became president.

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The White House did not respond to questions about whether Kushner uses the app, uses its disappearing messages feature, or how, if he’s using it, the White House is preserving those messages so as not to violate record retentions laws.

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“Being ‘on Signal’ is not intended to be a secret,” Moxie Marlinspike, the founder of Open Whisper Systems, which created Signal, wrote in an email. “Signal is used pretty extensively in government, has been approved for use in the US Senate, etc.”

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But Congress doesn’t have the record retention requirements that federal agencies and the White House do. If Kushner is using Signal for government communication, whether because he’s wary of being hacked by Russia or because he’s scared of surveillance closer to home, he would need to preserve those records. Next time he’s testifying before Congress, it’s a question lawmakers should ask him.

  Splinter News

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

My new favorite name: Moxie Marlinspike