Hacker Claiming to Have Accessed Hillary’s Email Account Pleads Guilty

Romanian hacker Marcel Lehel Lazar, also known by his nickname “Guccifer,” pled guilty to charges of identity theft and unauthorized access to protected computers before a federal judge in Alexandria, Virginia.
Hacker Claiming to Have Accessed Hillary’s Email Account Pleads Guilty
Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton speaks at the IBEW Local 11 union hall during a campaign event in Commerce, California, May 24, 2016. (Photo credit should read ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images)
5/25/2016
Updated:
5/25/2016

“In addition to the fact that he offers no proof to support his claims, his descriptions of Secretary Clinton’s server are inaccurate. It is unfathomable that he would have gained access to her emails and not leaked them the way he did to his other victims.”

Lazar could not provide documentation to back up his claims, nor did he ever release anything online supporting his allegations, as he had frequently done with past hacks.

The plea comes after an audit showed that Clinton and her team ignored clear guidance from the State Department, and that her email setup broke federal standards which could leave sensitive material vulnerable to hackers.

The inspector general’s review also revealed that hacking attempts forced then-Secretary of State Clinton off email at one point in 2011, though she insists the personal server she used was never breached. Clinton and several of her senior staff declined to be interviewed for the State Department investigation.

In April, Lazar was extradited from a Romanian prison, and brought to Virginia where he will stay as he awaits his sentencing, scheduled for Sept. 1 later this year. 

Associated Press contributed to this report.