How Mueller could have gotten Roger Stone's WhatsApp messages

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Part of the evidence Mueller used to build his case came from Stone’s own WhatsApp messages, according an indictment (pdf) unsealed on Friday. The 24-page document details Stone’s communications about an entity referred to as “Organization 1,” which the court filing makes clear is WikiLeaks, during the 2016 presidential campaign. According to the indictment, Stone communicated regularly with “senior Trump Campaign officials,” to whom he delivered stolen emails that were surfaced by WikiLeaks, and that he promised would be damaging to Hillary Clinton’s campaign.

In one exchange, Stone suggests to a contact that they switch their text conversation to a safer channel. “Want to talk on a secure line—got Whatsapp?” he texted.

The indictment goes on to describe messages between Stone and the other party about material that would hurt the Clinton campaign, suggesting investigators working for the special counsel were able to access the WhatsApp exchange.

The messaging service, which is owned by Facebook, is known for its highly secure end-to-end encryption, meaning everything is encrypted before it leaves the user’s phone and decrypted only after it reaches the recipient’s device. Only the sender and receiver, not even WhatsApp itself, can read encrypted messages.

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https://qz.com/1534250/how-mueller-could-have-gotten-roger-stones-whatsapp-messages/