US News
Obama, Clinton, McCain's passport files breached laws (3rd Roundup)
Mar 22, 2008, 1:05 GMT
Three contractors at the US State Department have been disciplined for looking at Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama\'s passport file, the department said Thursday. EPA/RANDY SNYDER
Washington - Contractors working for the US State Department breached the passport files of presidential candidates Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and John McCain, spokesman Sean McCormack said Friday.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had contacted Democrats Obama and Clinton to apologize for the mishap and would soon be speaking with the presumptive Republican nominee McCain, McCormack said.
'We're sorry that this happened and we take it very seriously,' McCormack said, adding the State Department has launched an investigation into the incidents.
Obama's file was breached on three occasions beginning January 9 by three different contractors employed by the Stanley Corporation and The Analysis Corporation, and two of them were sacked for violating privacy regulations. The third employee who was disciplined but remained employed also snooped on McCain's file, McCormack said.
'We are reviewing our options with respect to that person and his employment status,' he said.
'I can tell you that that individual no longer has access to this kind of information,' McCormack said.
Computer mechanisms for detecting unauthorized accesses to the files alerted the department to the incidents but the breaches were not reported to upper management, McCormack said, adding that the cases initially appear to be based on 'imprudent curiosity' and not politically motivated.
'It is deeply disturbing what's happened,' Obama said on the campaign trail in Portland, Oregon. 'This is something that has to be investigated diligently and openly.'
News that Obama's file had been violated broke Thursday night, and Rice told reporters Friday she telephoned the Illinois senator to apologize and would 'make certain that nothing more was going on.'
'I told him that I was sorry,' Rice said. 'And I told him that I, myself, would be very disturbed if I learned that somebody had looked into my passport file. And therefore I will stay on top of it and get to the bottom of it.'
Clinton's office released a statement Friday saying she had been informed by Rice of a violation in 2007.
'The State Department will be briefing Senator Clinton's staff this afternoon to provide details about the recent unauthorized breaches of passport records,' Clinton's office said. 'Senator Clinton will closely monitor the State Department's investigation into this and the other breaches of private passport information.'
McCormack said the individual who looked at Clinton's file was a trainee brought in to deal with last summer's backlog of passport requests.
'Usually in these training circumstances, people are encouraged to enter a family member's name, just for training purposes,' he said. 'This person chose Senator Clinton's name.'
The department said it would wait until all details of the incidents were known before determining if any laws had been broken, but noted the records are protected by privacy laws.
McCain was travelling in France on Friday.
The House Government Oversight and Foreign Affairs committees said they were investigating the violations.
The State Department said passport files do not contain information on visas or details of where the passport holder has travelled, but do include information such as name, social security number, birthplace, physical description and possibly details about occupation and emergency contacts.
COMMENT
blog comments powered by DisqusLatest Headlines in US
- 1. Mitt Romney Addresses Tea Party Summit Pictures
- 2. Seven injured as US Navy plane crashes into apartments
- 3. At least three injured in US Navy plane crash
- 4. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, others to face death penalty trial
- 5. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, four others to face death penalty trial
Older Talkback
page: 1
Really, lets have another 'roundup' of this non-event.
Bill Gertz and Jon Ward report that one of the people who illegally accessed the presidential candidates’ passport records works for a company headed by an adviser to the Barack Obama campaign.
The State Department investigation of improper computer access to passport records of three presidential candidates is focusing on one remaining employee — a contract worker with a company headed by an adviser to the presidential campaign of Sen. Barack Obama.
The probe by State’s inspector general will include polygraph tests for supervisors in the passport section to find out whether the three contract employees who accessed the records had a political motive or were part of a political operation to obtain personal data on Mr. Obama, Sen. John McCain or Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Two of the three contract employees had been fired before The Washington Times first reported Thursday on security breaches involving Mr. Obama’s passport records. The furor expanded yesterday to incidents involving the passport records of Mr. McCain and Mrs. Clinton.
The third employee, who has not been fired, worked for The Analysis Corporation (TAC), which is headed by John O. Brennan, a former CIA agent who is an adviser to Mr. Obama’s presidential campaign on intelligence and foreign policy.
The TAC employee is the only individual to have accessed both Mr. Obama’s and Mr. McCain’s passport information without proper authorization, a State Department spokesman said. That employee, who was not named, triggered an electronic alarm system, officials familiar with the probe said.
Passports probe focuses on worker
By Bill Gertz and Jon Ward
March 22, 2008
'Two of the three contract employees had been fired before The Washington Times first reported Thursday on security breaches involving Mr. Obama's passport records. The furor expanded yesterday to incidents involving the passport records of Mr. McCain and Mrs. Clinton.
The third employee, who has not been fired, worked for The Analysis Corporation (TAC), which is headed by John O. Brennan, a former CIA agent who is an adviser to Mr. Obama's presidential campaign on intelligence and foreign policy.'
www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080322/NATION/2437 62495/1001
Obama tied to passport breach
Posted Sat Mar 22 10:24:51 2008
Obama campaigners snooping
The State Department investigation of improper computer access to passport records of three presidential candidates is focusing on one remaining employee — a contract worker with a company headed by an adviser to the presidential campaign of Sen. Barack Obama
The probe by State's inspector general will include polygraph tests for supervisors in the passport section to find out whether the three contract employees who accessed the records had a political motive or were part of a political operation to obtain personal data on Mr. Obama, Sen. John McCain or Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Two of the three contract employees had been fired before The Washington Times first reported Thursday on security breaches involving Mr. Obama's passport records. The furor expanded yesterday to incidents involving the passport records of Mr. McCain and Mrs. Clinton.
The third employee, who has not been fired, worked for The Analysis Corporation (TAC), which is headed by John O. Brennan, a former CIA agent who is an adviser to Mr. Obama's presidential campaign on intelligence and foreign policy.
The TAC employee is the only individual to have accessed both Mr. Obama's and Mr. McCain's passport information without proper authorization, a State Department spokesman said. That employee, who was not named, triggered an electronic alarm system, officials familiar with the probe said.
TAC, a McLean-based information firm that has helped the State Department automate the Terrorist Watchlist over the last several years, issued a statement last night that it had been notified earlier in the day that one of its contractors had acted improperly. The firm said it had honored a State Department request not to fire its consultant to help the investigation.
'This individual's actions were taken without the knowledge or direction of anyone at TAC and are wholly inconsistent with our professional and ethical standards,' the company wrote.
Calls to the Obama campaign about Mr. Brennan were not returned.
Over the past exciting months of the political campaign for our next presidential nominees, there has been a refreshing spirit of democracy the world has been able to witness which remains to this day. As we encourage democracy around the world, at times, it has not been widely received nor have we always been exemplary of its precepts.
During this presidential campaign however, democracy is at its best. We’ve had admirable, dedicated and competent Americans running for office and the primaries have been exciting and surprising from one day to the next, and continue to be. Personally, I’ve been proud of the divergence of ideas and views, propositions for healing and strengthening our nation, and for the most part, without the ugliness that usually plagues election years.
Click to learn more...
Sure, there have certainly been controversies, but one controversy in particular, which I feel the need for clarification, is my reason for writing this letter. It’s been on my mind ever since we were witness to the shocking rhetoric of Rev. Jeremiah Wright last weekend. You see, Barack Obama had my vote, until I saw those videos. I was more than disappointed, my trust was lost. Why? One’s affiliation with their church for 20 years is important in a person’s life for all of the obvious reasons. One is part of a congregation of friends and relatives who share beliefs. The word is translated through the minister of the church. One tithes into the church in its support. The minister is at the helm. Parishioners can and should object if there are questions of impropriety; if not, the minister is empowered.
Of course, parishioners can also leave….seek another church and congregation more in keeping with their own attitudes, feelings and beliefs. These are very difficult personal decisions an individual has to make. When I heard the hateful rhetoric of Rev. Wright, like most Americans, I was appalled. Are these the words of Christ? Are these the words of healing and bringing people together?
I also learned that there are associations between Rev. Wright’s church and Louis Farrakhan, the head of the Nation of Islam in this country. I had even wondered some weeks ago why Barack Obama accepted the endorsement from Louis Farrakhan, I am still waiting for an explanation. Readers of this article can Google Louis Farrakhan and Nation of Islam and know what I’m talking about. I’m very concerned about these recent revelations because, being a Washington D.C. native, where politics and issues make for dinner table conversations as opposed to gossip of one type or another, Louis Farrakhan raised a lot of havoc in D.C in the 1970’s and 1980’s and I was appalled then, why wasn’t the guy deported? Laws protect, that’s why.
Rev. Farrakhan has been operating under the radar lately, until now. The expose of his funding the Obama campaign, and worse, of Sen. Obama accepting his endorsement, and yet worse, knowing that Rev. Wright follows the same radicalism and rhetoric in his church as Rev. Farrakhan makes me more than nervous. Perhaps it is also my belief in the separation of church and state which fuels my concerns.
In short, Sen. Obama has not only lost my vote, but my trust. Last weekend, when all of this all came to light, only then did Sen. Obama decide to disassociate himself from Rev. Wright’s rhetoric, but not from Rev. Wright. He claims if he had known about the sermons he would have done so right away. Now, he refers to him as “my former pastor.” This is all very convenient, but not believable.
To make matters worse, Mr. Obama turned the tables making the entire episode a matter of race. This is equally offensive because all you have to do is look at the number of citizens of all races and religions who have endorsed Mr. Obama, working hard in his campaign, so it’s really insulting to suggest that there is so much racial discrimination in this country that it may cost him his nomination. The only thing that will cost Mr. Obama his nomination is the deep concern that voters have with his affiliations, and I think now we need to address these very closely, as one would with any candidate under the circumstances.
Melinda Whiteman
www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_124374.asp
Something that REALLY matters:
blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/03/x-prize-rolls-o.html
Very bad poll news for Obama and the Dems
Richard Baehr
The latest news from the Rasmussen Tracking Poll is very encouraging for McCain.
Obama's favorable-unfavorable is 46 to 51, its all time low, demonstrating no ability yet to stanch the bleeding. No wonder they trotted out Bill Richardson with his Fu Man Chu beard.
But here is really evidence of what has happened with white voters:
* Arkansas: McCain leads Clinton 50-43. McCain leads Obama by 59-30.
* Kentucky: McCain leads Clinton 53-43. He destroys Obama 64-28.
* Lower middle income whites have deserted Obama. In one Pennsylvania poll, Clinton now leads Obama by 26. She has now taken the lead from him in North Carolina. Rasmussen national numbers: Clinton 46, Obama 44.
* Head to head general: McCain 49, Obama 41; McCain 49, Clinton 43.
No question that Hillary is the stronger general election candidate. She is more competitive in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida. Obama does better than Hillary in states Dems will lose anyway: Georgia, Wyoming, Kansas, Nebraska.
Other good news:
* Only Arkansas among Southern states was really in play. Now McCain leads even Clinton there.
* McCain is very well-positioned in Florida: Sen. Lieberman will get Jewish votes for him, veterans, Cubans, northern Panhandle whites don't like Obama or Clinton.
* Virginia is suprisingly strong for McCain, who holds solid leads over both Dems.
Survey USA is out with a raft of new state polls showing General Election Matchups between John McCain and Democrats Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. The only word to describe them is -- shocking -- especially if you are a Democrat. Against the likely Dem nominee, Barack Obama, McCain has put several must-win states for the Democrats in serious play -- Massachusetts, Minnesota, and Wisconsin -- in this series of polls. Here are the numbers:
Massachusetts
47% John McCain
47% Barack Obama
42% John McCain
55% Hillary Clinton
Minnesota
47% John McCain
46% Barack Obama
46% John McCain
49% Hillary Clinton
Alabama
62% John McCain
35% Barack Obama
56% John McCain
38% Hillary Clinton
Kentucky
62% John McCain
28% Barack Obama
53% John McCain
43% Hillary Clinton
Missouri
53% John McCain
39% Barack Obama
48% John McCain
46% Hillary Clinton
Wisconsin
44% John McCain
48% Barack Obama
45% John McCain
46% Hillary Clinton
Kansas
51% John McCain
39% Barack Obama
55% John McCain
36% Hillary Clinton
Ohio
50% John McCain
43% Barack Obama
44% John McCain
50% Hillary Clinton
'Muuuuthaf---ka! Sheiiit, this pres be slamin mah peeps! Ah saay Daamn!'
'Barak....try not to use ghetto anymore dear...you're running for president and it scares the sh-t out of white people dear...well..unless you're Will Smith!'
'Sorry Honey...(best Chapelle white voice) I am just fit to be tied by all this silly nonsense about my spiritual advisor. I'll be more careful!'
'Thank you honey. I know...it hurts sometimes to be associated with this oreo cookie preacher and all, and we're desparately trying to cut ourselves loose from his black ass, but he was useful in the state runs and we need to be careful!'
'Gosh hon, I am so impressed by your discipline. I mean, the crack about America had you looking like an angry bee haaatch but...'
'Barak...!'
'Sorry hon...slip of the tongue....'
'That's better!'
'So..hon..how do we fool whitey now?'
'Well Barak, we play to the strength... lt's start with the assuagement of the libberals, heap on some guilt, then acknowledge that immigrint whites came here with nothing after slavery and got screwed too! Heap on some MLK with a does of grievence, then end with something uplifting. Make sure you soundbite on Michigan. Hon...you cannot let any group think they are not victims..otherwise they end up republicans and that just f--ks us in th ass hon! I mean, let Hillary do that for you! '
'Dear, you are a peach! What would I do without you?'
'You'd be a piss ant, peckerwood lawyer in s. Chi dear!'
'Gosh...that's right! hon!'
'Now, go call the coal companies and Mr. Rezko before they get nervous dear! Also, we keep getting e mails from a Mr. Hsu...do you know him? Find out if he's doner!'
'OK hon!'
The man in question was also appointed by Bush to head the Counter Terrorism efforts. As a former CIA guy and Bush employee, there are lots of questions as to who's side he is really working for. He sounds like a modern day plumber to me. A plumber planted by the bad guys.
'The man in question was also appointed by Bush to head the Counter Terrorism efforts.'
John O. Brennan is adviser to Obama's presidential bid and donated $2,300 to Obama's campaign, there isn't much question to where his loyalty lies.
' A plumber planted by the bad guys.'
The obama campaign?
southernstudies.org/facingsouth/2008/03/va-company-involved-in-passport .asp
We learned Friday that the still-unnamed individuals who improperly accessed the passport files of presidential candidates Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and John McCain were not actually State Department employees but worked for two private contractors -- The Analysis Corp.* and Stanley Associates. Both companies are based in Virginia.
Earlier this week, Arlington-based Stanley won a five-year, $570 million contract from the State Department to provide passport services. Stanley also runs immigration document processing centers and recently cut wages for some of those employees despite a surge in applications. Employees protested the pay cut, picketing in front of a federal office building in Laguna Niguel, Calif. Stanley's chairman, president and CEO, Phil Nolan, is a Hillary Clinton supporter, having donated $1,000 to her campaign on Feb. 20, according to OpenSecrets.org.
The Analysis Corp. of McLean was founded in 1990 and acquired as a wholly owned subsidiary of SFA Inc. of Crofton, Md. in 2003. The company is headed by John O. Brennan, a former CIA agent who is an adviser to Obama's presidential campaign on intelligence and foreign policy. OpenSecrets.org reports that Brennan donated $2,300 to Obama's campaign on Jan. 28.
The House Foreign Affairs Committee, which oversees the State Department, announced Friday that it would investigate the security breaches. The State Department's Inspector General is also looking into the incidents.
Here is more about Brennan, the Bush appointee. He's a dirty plumber. He works for Bush and Company.
* CEO of [The Analysis Corp]
* Chairman of the Intelligence and National Security Alliance [INSA]
* Interim director, National Counterterrorism Center
* Director, Terrorist Threat Integration Center
* Deputy Executive Director, CIA
* Chief of Staff to Director of Central Intelligence, CIA
* Chief of Station, Middle East, CIA
* Executive Assistant to the Deputy Director of Central Intelligence, CIA
* Deputy Director, Office of Near Eastern and South Asian Analysis, CIA
* Daily Intelligence Briefer at the White House, CIA
* Deputy Division Chief, Office of Near Eastern and South Asian Analysis, CIA
* Chief of Analysis, DCI's Counterterrorism Center, CIA
* Middle East Specialist and Terrorism Analyst, Directorate of Intelligence, CIA
* Political Officer, U.S. Embassy in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Department of State
* Career Trainee, Directorate of Operations, CIA.
GW Bush, and 499 of Clintons other political adversaries had their FBI files vetted in the Clinton White House. When asked under oath, who gave the order to obtain these files a white house staffer responded '...Vince Foster.'
Vince, of course, was not available for testimony, as ha took a 38 caliber aspirin earlier...
No you don't, boy. You ain't important. Nobody cares what's in your file except the DEA.
I thought you were leaving because you keep humiliating yourself?
' Here is more about Brennan, the Bush appointee. '
He started under the Clinton administration and is an Obama adviser who has given him money.
'He works for Bush and Company.'
Again, an OBAMA ADVISER and OBAMA CONTRIBUTER....
FBI files have numerous items in there. J. Edgar Hoover basically controlled many politicians because he had the dirt.
This is why the Clintons wanted them i.e. dirt on their political enemies.
Now, I don't really think there are things in a passport file that are too nefarious, unless you're Sandy Berger, or someone went to Bangkok for R&R, so this is not much of a scandal, if that is even what it is.
as if Bush and company didn't do any digging and dirty tricks. They aren't Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. They are as evil as they get.
...it's just that, when it's time to come up with any specifics, the old windbag just loses it's wind...
Hillary and her boy, on the other hand, were caught, red handed, obtaining files on her political enemies and she is now running for office.
I wonder how it is that liberals can cry foul when Bush wants to eavesdrop on foreign nationals calling in, but are suspiciously silent about this little piece of history?
But who is he really working for? His employment loyalty lies with Bush and Company. Wrap your brain around that.
Bush isn't running for reelection again, so why would he care about where these chucklehaeds went?
Bush and McCain are not buddies in any way.
'His employment loyalty lies with Bush and Company. Wrap your brain around that.'
It wouldn't be illegal for Bush to have access to that information through the state department. So why would he have some 'plummer' do it in a way that breaks the law?
Once again, you are not making sense.
===============================================
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The CEO of a company whose employee is accused of improperly looking at the passport files of presidential candidates is a consultant to the Barack Obama campaign, a source said Saturday.
art.brennan.gi.jpg
John O. Brennan, president and CEO of the Analysis Corp., advises the Illinois Democrat on foreign policy and intelligence issues, the source said.
Brennan briefed the media on behalf of the campaign 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 contracts. Political affiliation is not one of the factors that we check.'
On Friday, the department revealed that Obama's passport file was improperly accessed three times this year, and the security of passport files of the two other major presidential candidates -- Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican John McCain -- had also been breached. Video Watch the secretary of state apologize for the breach »
Three contract emplyees are accused in the wrongdoing, including the one who works for Analysis Corp. and who was disciplined. That contract employee accessed McCain's file in addition to Obama's. None of the contract employees was identified.
www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/03/22/passport.files
Republicans are in power. There is money in power. The US ain't bankrupt, yet. They want to stay in power. Politics is power, power means money and screw the high rhetoric about serving the country. The republican'ts only serve themselves. They will use any dirty trick in the book. They have invented most of them. Wrap your head around that instead of a doobie, druggie.
'The republican'ts[sic] only serve themselves.'
Idiot... Bush could have the records delivered to him with a phone call. There would be no need for 'tricks'.
Nobody ever said bush was smart, cement head.
True, but the way it was done makes it appear that Obam's campaing had something to do with illegal activities. It is a Republican attempt to thwart their greatest threat to the continuation of neocon stupidity in the Whitewhorehouse.
about the Clintons. He conveniently keeps forgetting about that great republican hero, R.M. Nixon. I guess drugs do that to you, don't they, sp4.
...it's got a wooden stake in it's chest. Also, this story has nothing to do with Richard Nixon. You'd know that if you did something besides sit in your mom's basement tossing yourself constantly.
Judah Ben-Hur, Amb. and Barack Obama together for President, 2012
Now that Barack Obama is finished for this Presidential race, he should consider teaming with the American Republic and run with Judah Ben-Hur for President in 2012, and leave the 'black' race card behind. Run as Americans not Politicians.
NOVUS ORDO SECLORUM
Judah Ben-Hur
Ambassador
The American Republic
Diplomatic Mission: North America
'True, but the way it was done makes it appear that Obam's[sic] campaing[sic] had something to do with illegal activities. '
Gee, Obama would never have anything to do with illegal activities, would he? Just ask Tony Rezko or his wife who got a big raise when her hospital got a millions of tax payer dollars courtesy of an earmark from Barack the grifter.
Let me summarize:
Obama tied to passport information theft ......
That is what the smear campaign is trying to insinuate.Obama knows a guy,who has an employee that looked into a computer and glanced into some information that was not meant for his eyes .THe republicna smear is then:
Obama tied to passport information theft !
This kind of smear will simply continue for another year ?Suspicion will be cast upon him by the dirty trick department from the republicans,but goos luck to those that will be able to tie any republican to this smear,that is an impossible task as the construction of the smear campaign is easy to hide .Nevertheless there are so many precedents in recent history like the tarring of John Kerry that all the leads go in the same direction.Meanwhile your medicare and social security are bankrupt,not a word over that from the republicans .They'd rather have you focus over non issues .
GW Bush made a real effort to reform Social Security and it was stopped by the Luddite dems.
Privatization would allow what is the worst investment of any industrialized nation to bootstrap itself into a dynamic retirement system that actually enriches it's citizens and produces real revenue from the investment, allowing a new revenue steam to feed itself.
The Luddite libnazis stymied the effort, while not offering a single solution.
Not being an American it's likely that, on top of your libnazi prejudices, you simply missed it.
Thank you for information!
:)
page: 1
NoharnessMar 22nd, 2008 - 09:07:31
Something that matters:
blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/03/x-prize-rolls-o.html
Report this comment