On Thursday, The Smoking Gun reported that a hacker going by the name of “Guccifer” has hacked the email account of several members of the Bush family and posted the contents online. The information released includes addresses, email addresses and phone numbers of family and friends as well as personal pictures (which we will not be posting) and correspondence.





The emails released so far are interesting if only for the insight into just how close George H.W. Bush was to dying late last year from complications stemming from his Parkinson’s. Via The Smoking gun:

The hacked e-mails reveal that Bush’s health was so perilous in late-December that the former president’s chief of staff wrote his children to inform them that “your dad’s funeral team is having an emergency meeting at 10 a.m. just to go through all the details.” The Bush aide, Jean Becker, noted that this information “fell under the broadening category of things NOT TO TELL YOUR MOTHER.” In a December 26 e-mail to his siblings, George W. Bush wrote that he was “thinking about eulogy” and solicited stories that best illustrated their father’s sweet nature, favorite jokes, and acts of kindness. “Hopefully I’m jumping the gun,” noted Bush, who added, “But since the feeling is that you all would rather me speak than bubba, please help.” The mention of “bubba” is apparently a reference to Clinton, whom Bush has referred to as a “brother” due to his close relationship with George H. W. Bush.

Guccifer has made the claim that he has hacked hundreds of accounts and has been sought after by the authorities for some time. The Secret Service will be involved now so best of luck to him. In the meantime, while hacktivism can be a powerful, and useful, tool, the mundane nature of the emails and the release of personal information places this solely in the category of “unnecessary.” Whatever your feelings about George W. Bush and his family (we here at AI are certainly not fans), this is the kind of intrusion we wouldn’t wish on anyone.