Senators From Both Parties Call for Dept. of Justice to Investigate Passport Breach
Barack Obama is calling for a thorough probe of the breaches of three candidates' passport files, including his. (AP Graphic)
Senators from both parties on Sunday urged the Department of Justice to investigate the unauthorized searches of the passport files of three presidential candidates by State Department workers.
“That kind of a breach of privacy is just despicable,” said Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee. “I think that ought to be a very intense investigation.”
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., agreed, saying the incidents seem to point to a broader problem.
The Government Accountability Office has been warning about this problem for a decade. And it seems to me in this administration, there’s been pretty much a culture of disregard for privacy, and that’s part of the problem,” he said.
Both senators spoke on CNN’s “Late Edition.”
The State Department’s investigation into how and why the passport files of three presidential candidates were breached is scrutinizing an employee at a Virginia-based company, which is headed by an adviser to Barack Obama’s campaign.
The Washington Times, which broke the news Thursday that Obama’s files were improperly accessed, reported Saturday that the State Department inspector general’s internal probe will include polygraph tests of supervisors to determine whether there was a political motive behind the breaches.
The article said a focal point of the probe will be an employee who works for The Analysis Corporation and is still with the company. The firm is headed by John O. Brennan, an Obama adviser, FOX News confirms. The Times reported he advises the Democratic presidential candidate on intelligence and foreign policy matters.
The Times reported that the employee at TAC is the only individual who accessed both Obama’s and John McCain’s passport information. TAC decided to honor a State Department request to delay firing the consultant to give investigators time to conduct their investigation, the company said.
Two other contract workers were fired from Stanley Inc. after it was discovered they accessed Obama’s files. It could be challenging for the State Department to force them to answer questions, however. Unless they volunteer to cooperate, they would have to be served with a subpoena compelling them to testify before a grand jury.
Obama’s campaign at first questioned whether the senator was targeted for political reasons, but on Friday the State Department revealed Sens. Hillary Clinton and McCain also had their files improperly accessed. The State Department believes the cases could be just a matter of “imprudent curiosity,” but the internal investigation and a separate congressional probe are expected to delve into whether it was anything more.
“There are still many unanswered questions, including why these passport files were accessed and for what purpose,” Obama’s office said in a statement late Friday. “Sen. Obama believes a thorough investigation of these privacy breaches is necessary and expects one that is prompt and thorough.”
A fourth worker tapped into Clinton’s records as part of a training session last summer, the State Department said, and that violation was immediately recognized and the person admonished.
The Justice Department is monitoring the effort.
“None of us wants to have a circumstance in which any American’s passport file is looked at in an unauthorized way,” Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said as she offered apologies to the candidates.
The unauthorized digging into electronic government files on politicians recalled a 1992 case in which a Republican political appointee at the State Department was demoted for searching Bill Clinton’s passport records when Clinton was running against President George H.W. Bush.
Obama’s files were compromised on three occasions — Jan. 9, Feb. 21 and March 14. The department’s internal computer system “flags” certain records, including those of high-profile people, to tip off supervisors when someone tries to view the records without an appropriate reason.
It was not clear whether the employees saw anything other than the basic personal data such as name, citizenship, age, Social Security number and place of birth, which is required when someone fills out a passport application.
The files also include date and place of birth and address at time of application. Agency officials said the files generally would not list countries the person has traveled to.
Attorney General Michael Mukasey said the case has not yet been referred to the Justice Department for investigation, but he did not rule out the possibility of the Justice Department taking an independent look.
Click here to read the article in The Washington Times.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Senator Obama never fails to amaze:
In the News Headline Article: “Passport Investigation Scrutinizes Employee of Firm With a Tie to Obama” right there in front of your eyes his camp states: “There are still many unanswered questions, including why these passport files were accessed and for what purpose,” Obama’s office said in a statement late Friday. “Sen. Obama believes a thorough investigation of these privacy breaches is necessary and expects one that is prompt and thorough.” Find the article, see for yourself.
Well, here is another unanswered question Senator Obama has been asked many times, over and over: Is the Kenyan Rebel Leader Odinga your Cousin [as he alleges he is] or is he Not.
I could answer such a question about any cousin of mine, or a brother, any other relative. It’s dead simple. Let’s have it, Senator: [no Speeches please] Just answer Yes or No. Dead Simple. NOW!!!!
[Lying Cheat. Hiding his real purpose behind all that garble he spits out at the Voters every time he lands in a fix]
Don’t know why my last comments were not posted. Anyway, this article is irrelevant. What does this petty passport issue have to do with improving our financial, industrial and military position in the world. The value of the US dollar is constantly eroding, people are loosing their homes, inflation is soaring and numerous jobs have been lost. Folks, the current administration has wrecked this great country’s economy. We need to focus on who has the best chance to live up to the promises to change course for our country, and ensure a bright future for ALL Americans. We need a President who will make significant changes, unite the country (not divide us), and lead the efforts to work with the Congress to set the best economic and military policies for our great nation … and our families. Let’s stay focused on that.
I hope this gets posted my last one was not. Obama set out to turn people against Hillary by making them think she looked into his files. Funny that he got caught insteadd isn’t it.
Fox is the only network reporting this. The other networks are to busy comforting Obama and changing his diaper ( so to speak ). That stupid comercial of the 17 year old girl is so corny. Hillary did not even know her personally that baby film was an example. I personally would not want to trust Obama to deal with a crisis. He would have to ask Cnn or NBC to help him and
they are not to smart because they can’t see anything negative with him even when he calls us “typical white people “, just like his grandmother whom he acused of making racial statements. As for Richardson he wants to be vice president and he thinks Obama is going to win the nomination. I hope Hillary shows them. If she doesn’t Mcain will. Obama can’t beat Mcain.
I think that Obama has more than a dream— I think his HOPE is in the “people” that surrounds him on a daily basis. I think that his “CHANGE” is only who is doing the dirty work.
Anybody can give a speech and use fancy words.
People who have access to confidential data, can abuse their privileges! Is it right? NO. But it happens. People are curious, and don’t think its an ethical violation.
First, there has to be a system in place to monitor unethical activity. Notice that the system is in place on politicians, but not you and I. How many times has someone pulled up information on you? You don’t know.
Second there has to be a real cost to violating privacy issues. Most of the time its just a slap on the wrist. The worst case is the person gets fired, but will probably never have anything negative said about them in references.
There is no real cost for violating ethics and our privacy. So it happens a lot more than you think. How many people do you know who work at the DMV or a utility that has pulled info on someone else that they had no reason to, or because they were dating them, or their kid was dating them? It happens much more frequently than anyone knows.
This is also how so much data gets stolen. No one to monitor and protect the data.
as usual fair and balanced fox not telling the full story hillary clinton supporter was with stanley corp and the two people fired were with stanley corp they look at barack file 2 times get it right and tell the full story
“The State Department’s investigation into how and why the passport files of three presidential candidates were breached is scrutinizing an employee at a Virginia-based company, which is headed by an adviser to Barack Obama’s campaign.”
What’s to investigate? Obama’s people did this and got caught. They probably accessed his passport file, just to make him look like he was unaware.
411- it was an Obama supprter and CEO…. too too funny.. investigate it obama !!! one more OBAMA - DRAMA !!! ITs getting old ..!!
No BAMA 2008 !!
How about launching a bipartisan investigation on exactly WHO is Barack Obama associating with out of the public eye!