The Secret Service is conducting an open-ended investigation into a hacker who infiltrated the personal email accounts of several members of the Bush family, The Houston Chronicle reported Friday.
The hacker, by the name of Guccifer, published photos obtained in the hack to an online account Thursday evening, The Smoking Gun reported.
The content of the emails — sent between 2009 and 2012 — included personal family photos, confidential contact information of members of the Bush family and pictures of several self-portraits by President George W. Bush in the shower and the bathtub.
“In e-mail exchanges with the person who claimed responsibility for the hack, the individual claimed to have swiped ‘a lot of stuff,’ including ‘interesting mails’ about George H.W. Bush’s recent hospitalization, ‘Bush 43,’ and other Bush family members,” reported The Smoking Gun.
Guccifer told the website that federal law enforcement began investigating him “a long time ago,” calling it an “old game with the fucking bastards inside” and that “this is just another chapter in the game.”
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, in one of the email exchanges, spoke of how his father — George H.W. Bush — was “kind” with President Clinton “and he helped restore his sordid reputation.”
Sent at the time the 41st president was hospitalized in late 2012, the email was one of several exchanges obtained by Guccifer pertaining to the former president’s ailing health and hospitalization.
“A very tough thing to do but with kindness, dad probably helped Bill Clinton than anything he himself has done,” said Bush, in the email, as reported by The Smoking Gun.
Another email, forwarded from top Obama aide Valerie Jarrett, was a personal message from President Obama to the elder Bush: “Michelle and I haven’t wanted to impinge on you while you are recuperating, but please know that we are thinking of you and the entire family.”