House Panel Demands Explanation of DHS' Attempted Hack of GA Election Systems

A House Committee has asked the Department of Homeland Security to explain attempts to breach Georgia's election systems from a DHS IP address last year:

The leader of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform wants a fuller accounting from the Department of Homeland Security about complaints of the agency "rattling of doorknobs" on the state of Georgia's network firewall. 

Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) sent letters on Jan. 11 to DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson and DHS Inspector General John Roth asking about "unauthorized scans" and "unsuccessful attempts to penetrate" the Georgia Secretary of State's  firewall from last February into November's election season. . . . 

In his letter to Roth, Chaffetz requested the IG open an investigation into DHS' activities with the Georgia system. In his letter to Johnson, Chaffetz requested all of the DHS secretary's correspondence with [Georgia Secretary of State] Kemp. 

According to Chaffetz' letter to Roth, Johnson informed Kemp the attempt to gain access to the state's network had been "normal…interaction" by a DHS contractor with the Georgia Secretary of States' website." Johnson, according to Chaffetz, assured Kemp that "'there was no scanning,'" or security assessment of the network by DHS. . . . The official explanation, Chaffetz wrote, is dubious and requires an independent investigation.

We thank Rep. Chaffetz for taking this issue seriously and trust that DHS under the newly confirmed Secretary Kelly will fully investigate this attempted breach and reign in DHS' overreach into state election administration.