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Hillary Clinton Withdraws As Cybersecurity Conference Keynote, Citing ‘Unforeseen Circumstance’

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Luke Rosiak Investigative Reporter
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Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton withdrew from the cybersecurity conference where she was scheduled to be the keynote speaker, citing an “unforeseen circumstance,” according to an email from the FireEye Cyber Defense Summit.

Clinton — who infamously transmitted classified information over a homemade server once housed in her bathroom — was the centerpiece of the October 9-10 summit in Washington, where Clinton was to have “engage[d] in a Q&A discussion with FireEye CEO, Kevin Mandia on the geopolitical landscape and its implications for global cyber security today.”

The FireEye “Cyber Defense Summit brings together many of the world’s leading security experts, frontline heroes, government leaders, and executives from various industries to address the challenges of today’s threat landscape,” its website says.

An email from FireEye sent Tuesday said “Due to an unforeseen circumstance, Secretary Clinton will no longer be able to participate in this year’s conference. Additional speakers will be announced as confirmed. We look forward to hosting attendees in October with a comprehensive program at our 10th annual event.”

FireEye did not immediately respond to a request for more information from the Daily Caller News Foundation, nor did Clinton spokesman Nick Merrill.

The email was published by Nate Cain, an IT professional and federal whistleblower. A source close to FireEye confirmed that “something is up” with the Clinton speech, and there is no mention of the keynote on the conference’s website.

Clinton ran an insecure homemade server that she used for official business while secretary of State. A congressman said the Intelligence Community Inspector General found that the server was hacked by China.

As investigators began scrutinizing the server, some of its contents were deleted. When a reporter asked if she wiped the server, she responded, “What, like with a cloth or something? I don’t know how it works digitally at all.” (RELATED: Blunders By Democrats And Capitol Police Enabled What Prosecutors Call The ‘Largest Data Theft In Senate History’)

The server was discovered after her longtime confidant, Sidney Blumenthal, had his AOL account hacked, revealing emails to her address.

The emails of her campaign chairman, John Podesta, were hacked and uploaded to Wikileaks after an IT aide told him to click on a “phishing” email requesting that he type in his password.

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