Hacking of governor's computer suspected-Published comments had been taped, stored on office server

San Francisco Chronicle ^ | 9/11/6 | Carla Marinucci, Tom Chorneau

[SmithL]

California Highway Patrol officials have opened a criminal investigation into "multiple" breaches and illegal downloads by outside hackers into the computers of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's office, after an embarrassing private taped conversation was leaked last week to the Los Angeles Times, administration officials told The Chronicle.

"There is an investigation conducted by the California Highway Patrol on how the tape obtained by the L.A. Times was acquired," said a senior official who spoke on condition of anonymity. "This is a criminal matter that has been turned over to the CHP."

The governor was criticized last week after the Times reported that during a conversation in March with Susan Kennedy, his chief of staff, and Gary Delsohn, his speechwriter, Schwarzenegger referred to Latinos and African Americans -- specifically Republican Assemblywoman Bonnie Garcia, who is of Puerto Rican descent -- as having "hot" blood or a passionate temperament.

The Times reported that the conversation had been taped as part of Delsohn's occasional practice to capture the governor's speech patterns for his work.

After the Times story on the conversation appeared, Schwarzenegger apologized Friday for the remark, saying he "cringed" upon reading it in the newspapers. Garcia, of Cathedral City (Riverside County), defended the governor, saying she took it as a compliment that she was "passionate" on issues.

But Democrats, including the party's candidate for governor, state Treasurer Phil Angelides, called the governor's remarks an affront to minorities.

The leaked tape sparked concern among administration officials because they said the governor has never routinely taped conversations of his staffers.

[SmithL]

Dirty Tricks in California?

[vox humana]

Dirty Tricks in California?

The ghost of Tricky Dick is alive and well. LOL

[traviskicks]

"Government systems are penetrated on a regular basis," said Bev Harris, executive director of Black Box Voting, a Seattle-based group concerned about electronic voting and hacking.
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lol, cuz government is incompetant in everything it does...

[AmericaUnited]

So does the CA MIS group write traffic tickets?? Why is CHPS doing this?

[oldbrowser]

So does the CA MIS group write traffic tickets?? Why is CHPS doing this?

Because CA MIS does not have arrest powers ?

[calcowgirl]

Here is audio of the full tape. I guess the pranksters gave it to YouTube, as well as the LA Times.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTPuwy9y7R0

If I were Plescia, I wouldn't appreciate the comments by Susan Kennedy:

• "Plescia looks like the deer that keeps getting caught in my yard when I leave the gate open"
• "... big eyes that just kinda like stare like a Stepford wife. He’s a good-looking guy -- Happy -- Perky."

[newzjunkey]

Nice to see I saw the 'real' story here when it first broke: how did the LA Slimes get the private conversation.

There are two possibilities: one of the Dems Arnold's taken on board his administration is mole -or- Angelides has sympathetic hackers.

If it was hackers, what else was taken and was this the best they could find -or- is this part of a Chinese water torture 'trickle' of embarrassing comments the governor has made in private in an effort to slander him from office because Angelides can't win on merit? Since we're talking about Democrats here, it's likely the later.

[newzjunkey]

Tells us the bias of the LA Times. Not caring they were using illegal obtained material and protecting said criminals, they thought embarrassing the governor in an reelection cycle was more important. It wasn't as if they were revealing corruption or criminal activity in gov't.

[SmithL]

Update: CA: Angelides camp denies hacking (says Schwarzenegger audiotape was "publicly available")