Clinton's help desk told John Podesta that the phishing attempt that resulted in WikiLeaks was a 'legitimate email'


The hack and leak of campaign chairman John Podesta's emails has resulted in a major headache for the team behind Hillary Clinton. But as it turns out in newly released WikiLeaks emails, Clinton's own IT help desk might be accidentally responsible for the emails getting out.
Last week, Motherboard reported that the hack resulted from Podesta falling for a phishing attempt that was disguised as Google alerting him that his account had been compromised. "The phishing email that Podesta received on March 19 contained a URL, created with the popular Bitly shortening service, pointing to a longer URL that, to an untrained eye, looked like a Google link," Motherboard wrote. "Inside that long URL, there's a 30-character string that looks like gibberish but is actually the encoded Gmail address of John Podesta. ... That's the link that opened Podesta's account to the hackers."
But when Clinton's IT team was alerted to the fake email, they actually confirmed it was "legitimate."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"This is a legitimate email," Charles Delavan, part of Clinton's IT team, seemingly confirmed, as can be seen on the WikiLeaks page here. "John needs to change his password immediately, and ensure that two-factor authentication is turned on his account."
Of course, this is not the first time concerns about Clinton's email security have come up. Many of the candidate's critics have expressed concern over possible vulnerabilities in the private email server she used while serving as secretary of state.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.
-
'The answer isn't to shake faith in the dollar'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Dutch government falls over immigration policy
speed read The government collapsed after anti-immigration politician Geert Wilders quit the right-wing coalition
-
The Week Junior Book Awards 2025 Shortlist Announced
The Week Junior Book Awards have unveiled the 2025 shortlist, celebrating the best in children’s literature across 13 categories.
-
Elon Musk slams Trump's 'pork-filled' signature bill
speed read 'Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong,' Musk posted on X
-
Depleted FEMA struggling as hurricane season begins
speed read FEMA has lost a third of its workforce amid DOGE cuts enforced by President Donald Trump
-
White House tackles fake citations in MAHA report
speed read A federal government public health report spearheaded by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was rife with false citations
-
Judge blocks push to bar Harvard foreign students
speed read Judge Allison Burroughs sided with Harvard against the Trump administration's attempt to block the admittance of international students
-
Trump's trade war whipsawed by court rulings
Speed Read A series of court rulings over Trump's tariffs renders the future of US trade policy uncertain
-
Elon Musk departs Trump administration
speed read The former DOGE head says he is ending his government work to spend more time on his companies
-
Trump taps ex-personal lawyer for appeals court
speed read The president has nominated Emil Bove, his former criminal defense lawyer, to be a federal judge
-
US trade court nullifies Trump's biggest tariffs
speed read The US Court of International Trade says Trump exceeded his authority in imposing global tariffs