Ulster DA sends breach complaints to state
KINGSTON, N.Y. » Ulster County District Attorney Holley Carnright has sent complaints filed with his office about potential computer data breaches by Ulster County Elliott Auerbach and County Executive Michael Hein to the state Attorney General’s Office.
In an Aug. 16 memo to Legislature Chairman Ken Ronk, Carnright said he handed off complaints that each official gained unauthorized computer access to the others files to avoid the appearance of political motivations.
“In matters involving ethical concerns of local elected officials the district attorneys have been cautioned to refer these matters to the Public Integrity Unit in order to avoid the appearance that the involvement is politically driven,” wrote Carnright.
He did not say in his memo where that recommendation comes from.
Carnright is a Republican. Hein and Auerbach are both Democrats.
On Aug. 13, Carnright sent a copy of a letter he said he received from Auerbach to the Attorney General’s Office alleging a breach of the Comptroller’s computer files.
In that letter, Carnright told the Attorney General’s Office he has also received emails and phone calls from both Auerbach and Hein, “each office alleging improprieties against the other.”
The district attorney said he was providing the information to the Attorney General’s Office “in the event you feel it is appropriate to follow up with an investigation.”
Copies of the complaint filed by Auerbach were not provided by Carnright to the Legislature. A
message left for Carnright Friday was not immediately returned.
Email messages and telephone calls to the Attorney General’s Office were not returned.
Carnright informed the county Legislature of his decision to pass on the complaint in an Aug. 16
memo to Legislature Chairman Ken Ronk.
Copies of that memo were sent by the district attorney to Auerbach and Hein.
Carnright said he decided to inform the Legislature of his actions after learning that the Legislature is looking to hire a cybersecurity investigator to look into the claims. The Legislature’s Ways and Means Committee on Monday said they would seek proposals from companies interested in doing the investigation.
Controversy over access to the county’s computer
files erupted earlier this month after the Hein administration revealed the results of a months-long investigation that showed employees in Auerbach’s office had allegedly been routinely accessing files of the Finance Department to which the Comptroller’s Office was not supposed to have access. According to the Hein administration, when the employee responsible for giving access was questioned, he retired his
position.
Days after the allegations were made public, Alicia DeMarco, the comptroller’s director of audit and internal control, and one of three employees alleged to have improperly accessed the files, abruptly resigned.
Auerbach has denied the allegations against his office and said the executive’s office is trying to detract attention of the fact that the Hein administration accessed the comptroller’s files and shared the content of some of those files with the Legislature.
The administration said that, as part of its investigation into the data breaches, it discovered that Auerbach had secretly recorded telephone conversations with a county legislator, the clerk of the Legislature and a member of the public. Those taped recordings were provided by the executive with legislative leadership.