“If a (Software) tool is commissioned and paid for by the government, then the misuse of that tool (for partisan political gain) is most assuredly against the law, or should be.”
Not if it’s out there for the public to use. Super Pacs have the money to pay for mining for political reasons. Also, the govn. put money in to develop the internet but we all use it.
No, you are flat-out wrong.
First, you're begging the question, ARE these software tools, authored by the government, available to the public? I contend they are not, certainly not the high-caliber ones employed by the CIA, NSA, and the like.
Second, public availability of a given Federal resource does not excuse the Federal government employing the same resource in a politically partisan way. There are specific laws prohibiting the use of Federal property or appropriated funds for partisan political purposes.