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Just follow the trail, we'll see where it leads.
Looks like the Clintonistas learned a few lessons from the Bush Junta...
Two Fired for Viewing Obama Passport File
State Department Investigating Whether Contractors Broke Law
By Glenn Kessler
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, March 21, 2008; Page A03
Washington PostTwo State Department employees were fired and a third has been disciplined for improperly accessing Sen. Barack Obama's passport file, the State Department announced last night.
Senior department officials said they learned of the incidents only when a reporter made an inquiry yesterday afternoon. They said an initial investigation indicated that the employees -- all of whom worked on contract -- were motivated by "imprudent curiosity."
Bill Burton, spokesman for Obama's presidential campaign, called the incidents "an outrageous breach of security and privacy." He said this is "a serious matter that merits a complete investigation," adding that the campaign will "demand to know who looked at Senator Obama's passport file, for what purpose, and why it took so long for them to reveal this security breach."
Undersecretary of State Patrick F. Kennedy, in a hastily arranged conference call with reporters, said he asked the State Department inspector general to open an inquiry into the matter and acknowledged that it might need to be expanded.
He also said he would brief Obama, who is locked in a tight race for the Democratic presidential nomination with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, today on the matter.
Kennedy said that he did not know yet whether any laws were broken or whether the employees shared the information with others. He said that the incidents, which occurred at three offices, on Jan. 9, Feb. 21 and March 14, should have been "passed up the line" much sooner and that officials were seeking to determine why they had not been disclosed earlier.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who was briefed yesterday afternoon, requested a "full investigation," department spokesman Sean McCormack said.
The employees were each caught because of a computer-monitoring system that is triggered when the passport account of a "high-profile person" is accessed, department spokesman Tom Casey said. The system, which focuses on politicians and celebrities, was put in place in recent years, after the State Department was embroiled in a scandal involving the access of the passport records of then-presidential candidate Bill Clinton in 1992.
In that case, a special prosecutor determined that officials at senior levels were knowledgeable about the passport breaches. That investigation cost $2.2 million, but no one was charged.
The department declined to release the names of the employees or the two companies for which they worked.
Kennedy said the contract employees -- who helped process some of the 18 million passport applications the department handles every year -- had access to personal records as part of their jobs in data entry, customer service and other administrative tasks. He said that contract employees undergo "public integrity checks," such as a review of police records, but that the department does not examine political affiliation. "That would be inappropriate," he said.
The employee involved in the March 14 incident has only been disciplined because that investigation is still continuing, said an official who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Though the workers were caught by a computer system that focuses on high-profile people, Casey said that a computer report is generated on every access to passport records and that spot checks are made to ensure that State Department employees are not violating the Privacy Act.
Just follow the trail, we'll see where it leads.
Both of you are idiots, and it shows.
Here's a CNN article on how all the candidates files have been breached:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/03/...ort/index.html
(CNN) -- The State Department said Friday that all three presidential candidates' passport files were breached.
The admission comes after it was revealed Sen. Barack Obama's files had been viewed three times by contractors. One of the contractors also viewed the files of Republican Sen. John McCain, said State Department spokesman Sean McCormack.
Earlier Friday, Sen. Hillary Clinton's office said that the State Department had notified it that her file had been breached in 2007.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Friday she had apologized to Obama for the unauthorized viewing of his passport file by State Department contractors.
It was unknown Friday whether Rice had apologized to Clinton and McCain.
Two contractors were fired and a third was disciplined after they accessed Obama's file, McCormack said Thursday.
Rice told also said that the breaches would be investigated.
"I told him I was sorry and I told him that I myself would be very disturbed in anyone had looked at my passport files and that, therefore, I will stay on top of this," Rice said.
"We are going to do an investigation through the inspector general," she said. "None of us want us to have a situation where any American's passport file is accessed in an unauthorized way."
Rice said "it appears that the system worked" because the unauthorized viewing was flagged, but "it should have been known to senior management."
The State Department will brief Clinton's staff this afternoon, a statement from her Senate office said. State Department members are also briefing McCain's staff.
State Department officials said Rice was told Thursday that Obama's files had been improperly viewed and that she told her staff she wanted a full investigation.
The State Department has refused to release the names of the companies that employed the contractors.
The chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Rep. Harry Waxman, sent a letter to Rice asking for the companies' names and said they should be made public.
The department hires contractors to design, build and maintain their systems and help employees with searches. McCormack said two of the contractors in the Obama case were "low-level" personnel and the other was in a mid-level position with no management role.
The breach seems like "imprudent curiosity" among the contract workers, said McCormack, adding that senior management at the State Department was not aware of the incidents until Thursday afternoon. Breaches occurred January 9, February 21 and March 14.
A State Department source said passport files contain scanned images of passport applications, birth date and basic biographical information, records of passport renewal and possibly citizenship information.
Obama's campaign is asking for a complete investigation to find out who looked at his passport file and why.
"This is an outrageous breach of security and privacy, even from an administration that has shown little regard for either over the last eight years," said Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton in a statement.
"Our government's duty is to protect the private information of the American people, not use it for political purposes."
Doug Hattaway, a spokesman for Sen. Hillary Clinton, Obama's rival for the Democratic presidential nomination, said, "If it's true, it's reprehensible, and the Bush administration has a responsibility to get to the bottom of it."
The White House declined comment Thursday evening, just hours after the State Department upper management learned of the breach.
The department would not speculate whether the information had been shared with anyone else.
"That obviously is something we are investigating," said Under Secretary of State Pat Kennedy. "I have no reason to believe they did, but I certainly am not going to be dismissive of what is a serious and valid question."
Kennedy said he will brief Obama's senior staff on Friday.
Before contractors are hired, the department runs "public integrity checks," which are standard police and name checks for people who will be handling "sensitive but nonclassified information," Kennedy said.
The background checks do not include inquiries into political affiliations, Kennedy said, saying that would be "inappropriate."
A computer-monitoring system, triggered when employees access the file of a high-profile person, caught the employees, McCormack said, emphasizing that the department's system "worked."
However, despite the trigger, senior department officials only learned of the incident Thursday afternoon, after a reporter e-mailed McCormack with a question.
"It was dealt with at the office level where the incidents occurred by the office-level supervisors, who took immediate steps when they saw this," Kennedy said.
"I will admit, they failed to pass the information up the chain to a sufficiently high level." Department officials say that after Rice was told Thursday what happened, she told her staff she wanted a full investigation.
The department would not speculate on whether the information had been shared with anyone else.
"That obviously is something we are investigating," Kennedy said. "I have no reason to believe they did, but I certainly am not going to be dismissive of what is a serious and valid question."
The news was reminiscent of a breach of Bill Clinton's passport information during the 1992 presidential campaign. The FBI launched an investigation after the State Department reported that someone had ripped out pages from his passport file from the late 1960s and '70s.
I think it turns out to be a case of inappopriate curiosity.
Yea, Hillary was behind this . . . whatever.
She hates blacks.
She's a lesbian.
She checks into Obamas passport files.
She brainwashed Ohio for the primary.
Is there anything else you guys would like to add?
Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumb over here wanted to make it a Clinton conspiracy.
at Dan turning this into an Obama thing when all three candidates had their files breached. Stupid lib (yes, I know that's redundant).
Those bas s!!
and these are the people you want to turn your health care over too... dam civil servants... lol
Actually, they were contract workers, not civil servants...and they happen to be the kind of people who do run our health care.
lol.
You don't need to know the iden ies of the private enterprises f*cking with the public trust.The department declined to release the names of the employees or the two companies for which they worked.
They can go about their business.
Move along. [/JEDI MIND TRICK]
That wouldn't work on Jabba The Hut, and I'm sure he works for the government somewhere.
Or, maybe he's a carnie working at some carnival.
Where is Dan? <crickets>
Trying to find a clever way to spin this as a Clinton conspiracy.
It's going to be a while.
March 23, 2008
Passport contractor exec is Obama supporter
Posted: 02:00 PM ET
WASHINGTON (CNN) – The CEO of a company whose employee is accused of improperly accessing the passport files of presidential candidates is a consultant to the Obama campaign, a source familiar with the firm said Saturday.
John Brennan, president of The Analysis Corporation (TAC), advises the Illinois Democrat on foreign policy and intelligence issues, the source said.
Brennan briefed the media on behalf of the campaign earlier this month. The executive is a former senior CIA official and former interim director of the National Counterterrorism Center. He contributed $2,300 to the Obama campaign in January.
When asked about the contribution, a State Department official told CNN's Zain Verjee, "We ethically awarded contacts. Political affiliation is not one of the factors that we check."
The department does not check the "personal activities of that nature of the officers of the corporation." Contracts are "compe ively awarded," the official added.
On Friday, the department revealed that Obama's passport file was improperly accessed three times in 2008, and the passport files of the two other major presidential candidates — Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican John McCain — had also been breached.
Three contractors are accused in the wrongdoings, including the one who works for TAC, who was disciplined. That contractor accessed McCain's file in addition to Obama's. None of the contractors was identified.
The other two contractors, who worked for Stanley Inc., were fired. Stanley has had contracts with the department since 1992, and was recently awarded a $570 million contract to continue providing support for passport processing.
Follow the trail . . . follow the trail.
Just what the is in a passport file that would be of any importance or that we don't already know about he candidates?
I don't know.
But, just follow the trail.
Come on peewee you know that the clinton's are behind everything..
Oh but what are the Clinton haters to do now?
lol at pot peewee scoffing at kettle nbadan.
From what I have heard, not much, except their SOC
number. Who really cares about that.
More than likely all it was was a curiosity check. Too much
time on their hands. Guess they got caught up on issuing
all those new passports.
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