FBI probing Cards for allegedly hacking Astros
The St. Louis Cardinals organization is under investigation by the FBI and Justice Department for allegedly hacking into the internal network of the Houston Astros, as noted in a lengthy report in the New York Times. The investigation has been confirmed by MLB commissioner Rob Manfred, via nytimes.com:
Major League Baseball “has been aware of and has fully cooperated with the federal investigation into the illegal breach of the Astros’ baseball operations database,” a spokesman for baseball’s commissioner, Rob Manfred, said in a written statement.
The Cardinals also released their own statement:
The St. Louis Cardinals are aware of the investigation into the security breach of the Houston Astros’ database. The team has fully cooperated with the investigation and will continue to do so. Given that this is an ongoing federal investigation, it is not appropriate for us to comment further.
No Cardinals officials involved have been punished to this point, as MLB waits for the government investigation to come to fruition.
Why the Astros? Again, the nytimes.com story has offered up a reason:
Law enforcement officials believe the hacking was executed by vengeful front-office employees for the Cardinals hoping to wreak havoc on the work of Jeff Luhnow, the Astros’ general manager who had been a successful and polarizing executive with the Cardinals until 2011.
One might recall that internal discussions about a possible trade by the Astros were leaked in the past, though we can’t be sure the matters are related. This is, however, why the Astros contacted the FBI, per the Times report. When the investigation began, it was found that the data breach came from a house connected to at least one Cardinals employee. This is when the investigation started to focus on the Cardinals front office.
The Astros released their own statement as well:
The Houston Astros are actively cooperating with an ongoing federal investigation. We cannot comment on this matter.
Jeff Lunhow worked for the Cardinals in their scouting department from 2003 to 2011. He was hired as the Astros general manager in December of 2011.
Has Jeff Luhnow been targeted by his former team? (USATSI)
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