Developing: State Department officials reportedly fired after Barack Obama's passport file breached

[maddezmom]

Source: MSNBC

BREAKING NEWS
NBC News
updated 3 minutes ago
Two contract employees of the State Department were fired and a third person was disciplined for accessing passport records of Sen. Barack Obama "without a need to do so," State Department officials confirmed to NBC News.

The three people who had access to Obama's passport records were contract employees of the department's Bureau of Consular Affairs, NBC News has learned. The unauthorized activity concerning Obama's passport information occurred in January.

"A monitoring system was tripped when an employee accessed the records of a high-profile individual,” a department official told NBC News. "When the monitoring system is tripped, we immediately seek an explanation for the records access. If the explanation is not satisfactory, the supervisor is notified."

Explaining why the contractors had access to the files, the official said: "The State Department uses cleared contractors to design, build and maintain our systems and cleared contract employees provide support to government employees and several steps of passport processing including data entry, file searches, customer service and quality control.

Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23736254/

---

Barack Obama's campaign tonight is demanding a full investigation of reports that his passport files at the State Department were viewed without authorization.

“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. Our government’s duty is to protect the private information of the American people, not use it for political purposes. This is a serious matter that merits a complete investigation, and we 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,” Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton said in a statement.

more:http://www.boston.com/news/politics/politicalintelligence/2008/03/obama_demands_p.html


AP Top News at 8:46 p.m. EDT
10 minutes ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — A spokesman for the State Department says two contract employees have been fired and a third disciplined for inappropriately looking at the passport file of Democratic Sen. Barack Obama's passport file. Spokesman Sean McCormack Thursday night confirmed instances of what he called "imprudent curiosity" by the State Department employees.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5g8-DEMtAE9q4i4ySQ0eV_qZefmRQD8VHGC300


KO talking about it now, not a recent breach took place in Jan 2008. Obama campaign just found out about this perhaps this afternoon.

A state dept official called Obama's Senate office to let him know the news, they didn't even bother to call the campaign.

Actually seems to have been 3 seperate events as late as March 14.

State Dept is going to hold a conference call around 9:10 pm.

MSNBC reporting Sec. of State Rice found out about it yesterday

[magellan]

1. What the hell? n/t

[saigon68]

192. This was no accident it doesn't pass the smell test

Some one was looking for something to use. It wasn't just "curiosity" as Kindasleezy Rice and her corporate handlers will suggest in the upcoming days.

Some one was on a fishing expedition for a few more "gems" to unveil later

[bluestateguy]

2. Wonderful news!

This will finish off the Wright story once and for all!

Boo yah!

[Carrieyazel]

61. The Wright story has already done the damage and has basically run its course.

Still, this couldn't have come at a better time.

[defendandprotect]

99. The Wright story is really a story about right-wing media and attempts to swift-boat . . .

Only right-wing retards would fail to understand that ---

[curiousdemo]

115. Yeah, those shit-heads over at FOX NOISE CHANNEL

haven't said anything about this story. They are soooo hurt this story will kill the wright story. There goes their racist viewership. :cry:

[defendandprotect]

133. I'll tell you, they should be scared that Obama can make "blacks" and "whites" . . .

see all they have in common together --- and that the enemy is somewhere else . . . !!!

[catgirl]

140. But Anderson Cooper asked an Obama campaign person...

(didn't catch his name) if this is good politically for Obama...to cover
up the Wright story. Not kidding. He asked this almost immediately.
He actually expected an answer to this stupid question. I didn't realize
he was a Hillary hack.

[Cha]

145. cooper said "are you pushing this to

change the topic..?" And Obama's aide, Eric Holder, said "We don't have to push anything." :)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x5183447

[hisownpetard]

147. Tucker Carlson said the same thing on Dan Abrams' show. "This is great for Obama."

What a**holes.

[MickBastard]

188. I would agree that its sad

but true. This is good for Obama. Takes some of the heat off from the Wright story. Its a fact.

[ekwhite]

202. Cooper isn't a Hillary hack. He is just an idiot. NT

[lonestarnot]

224. Thinking he is a GOP pocket man. He is a richie you know.

The more I see of him, the less I like him.

[Altitude 5280]

146. Fixed Noise Has Head In Sand

When the news broke, Fox of course chose to ignore it.

[Carrieyazel]

228. Yes, and are you one of those?

[DainBramaged]

197. Morning Joe Scumborough won't let it go

[McCamy Taylor]

189. Violation of rights is wonderful news? What planet are you living on?

[Torn_Scorned_Ignored]

232. at least Obama gets quick

action on his rights, what about the other 300,000,000 of us?

[deminks]

3. Just a banner right now.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/

[Justitia]

4. WTF??? What is the Bush Admin doing & why? Cui bono? -eom

[Politicalboi]

117. I'm sure someone

Else's fingerprints are ALL over this too. Let's see who was President before Bush who could get this info and use it to try and smear him? I mean they used his kindergarten papers. They are very desperate people.

[George II]

156. One of Pres. Clinton's appointees was some level directly above the snoopers.

It's always the little guys that get caught....remember "Watergate"? I suspect that Hillary Clinton is now figuratively FUCKED! Certainly Bill isn't interested in that.

[texasleo]

5. drudge has it spalshed...HUGE RED LETTERS

[deminks]

6. KO reporting that the employees tripped a monitor when they accessed a file

of a high profile individual.


Watergate redux

[deminks]

8. happened in January 08 according to KO

Obama just found out this afternoon?????

[MadMaddie]

93. That's the first breach there were two more...

[krkaufman]

177. Yep, the campaign wasn't notified until today.

The most recent breach, though, was just last Friday. (3 breaches in all, I believe)

[Eagle_Eye]

194. At that point the republicans figured out the cover up was not going to work

The cat was out of the bag so they had to go public with the information.

[krkaufman]

217. Or they figured that Obama's campaign was already in enough turmoil ...

... that there'd be less press coverage of it. Which story will get more viewer reaction, the passport issue or playing more clips of Rev. Wright?

[aquart]

10. Can we impeach NOW????

[Joe Bacon]

43. THREE TIMES????????

WHY???????????????????????

[Hissyspit]

7. KO: Occurred in January 2008.

Campaign only just hearing about it now?

[catgirl]

142. It happened in Jan., Feb. and March

Three times! I doubt they just figured this out today.

[krkaufman]

178. Right. And most recent was just last Friday, 3/14. n/t

[RiverStone]

9. KO talking about it now on MSNBC

Two state dept."contract" employee's fired for checking out Obama's passport files without authorization - in Jan 2008.

Now the questions are numerous - who were these people and what info did they share about Obama with you???

KO and guest saying this could be BIG.

[roguevalley]

19. independent prosecutor happened the last time.

[defendandprotect]

97. Cute . .. . "CONTRACT EMPLOYEES" . . . --- ??? !!!!

[kestrel91316]

101. How much you wanna bet they work for either Halliburton or Blackwater??

[defendandprotect]

109. That they would be connected to Republican interests is being suggested on CNN . . .

LIVE now with Anderson Cooper ---

[frog92969]

116. How about DLC interests?

That's worth consideration.

[defendandprotect]

135. Well....as a MATTER OF FACT... the photo of Obama came from Clinton campaign . . .

traced back by Randi Rhodes ---

bless that woman!!!

[Politicalboi]

119. Or maybe

Hillaburton? Just saying.:tinfoilhat:

[Shannon2008]

166. Stanley Inc.

That's my guess . . . It would require access to the full database. I'm sure it was more than just one file or one record of a database. I thought I heard that the info is linked to all kinds of records including the records of others in your family.

[defendandprotect]

237. Right . . . what you're saying makes sense .... has to link to lots more info ---

[Shannon2008]

238. Yeppers . . . As I suspected . . . They were from Stanley

http://deepbackground.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/03/21/794799.aspx

[defendandprotect]

240. Didn't read the whole thing yet, but why are we contracting out this work ???

Who are these contracting firms?
Stanley manages more than 1,800 personnel who work on State Department contracts

What are they doing, privatizing all of government?


PS: In reading some of the comments, Maura Harty seems under suspicion for being linked to the
Clinton Administration, yet she is obviously now working for the Bush gang. Anything is possible, but I think we should remember Teresa LaPore of "butterfly ballot" fame. . . .
later connected to the GOP.

[peacetalksforall]

167. Would be fun if they are employees of the RNC who were contracted out.

[MidwestTransplant]

11. Bush I did the same to Bill Clinton and Perot in 1992

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE1DE113FF931A25752C1A964958260

[DissedByBush]

129. I don't think the current greenery in office is that smart

My bet is a couple of contractors with a personal agenda against Obama were hoping to dig up some dirt and give it to Drudge.

They had legal access to the system but improperly accessed information they weren't supposed to look at. They didn't distribute it, it's not classified, nothing to criminally prosecute unfortunately. A fat civil suit might be in order though. Eat'em up, Obama!

[George II]

201. It is criminally prosecutable - a violation of the privacy laws, some say a felony.

[DissedByBush]

233. No offense

But unless it's something obvious like murder or theft I never believe a claim that something is criminal until someone gives me a snippet of the US Code.

[George II]

157. and HE got caught too!

[Patsy Stone]

12. Fineman said Condi must have known

and it probably went up to the WH.

[AllexxisF1]

13. How much you want to bet...

How much you want to bet all of sudden there will be stories about how he went to questionable countries or something like that. They are going to make him look like some closet terrorist. Hell I would not be surprised if they altered his file to make it look like he was in AlQueda Summer Camp.

I hope his staff takes this investigation to the hilt....this is MAJOR AND TOTAL BULLSHIT!

[MadMaddie]

98. The timing of the picture of Obama in the African dress came

out around one of the times of the breaches didn't it?
Jan 9
Feb 21
March 14

Coincidence that all breaches occurred after Obama's wins?

[Justitia]

14. Damn! What's next? Wiretaps?? Soooo possible these days. -eom

[tridim]

22. Without the slightest bit of doubt.

I think wiretaps should be assumed from now until 2009.

[Justitia]

25. Isn't it crazy? Remember when we were shocked that the FBI wiretapped MLK?

Now, it seems like a "given".

This is beyond bizarre.

[Kittycat]

26. That's a given. We know the answer to that without even asking.

[Sean Stuart]

214. You are beyond correct.

Secret wiretaps with no oversight whatsoever. There is no way in hell that Hillary and Obama's phones aren't tapped and monitored 24-7.

[NewJeffCT]

66. wiretaps next?

I think most Dems have been wiretapped for a while. It's not something that is next.

[bdamomma]

118. maybe that is why the Dems cave in so often.

they say not political, but come on give me break, sure it wasn't political :sarcasm:

[defendandprotect]

103. You've got to take that for granted --- !!!!

[Shannon2008]

159. The Repubs tried . . .

but they said that the eavesdropping law expired Feb. 16 . . . j/k

[harun]

175. They may even start using the media to try and influence public opinion (n/t)

[KingFlorez]

15. Another abuse of authority in the Bush administration

[Dreamer Tatum]

45. It could have been a coupe of random a-holes

I mean, it's ALL over the news, everywhere. Evidently the breach triggered an existing alert...not sure this one has Nixonian undertones,
unlike 99% of the other crap that goes on these days...

[OwnedByFerrets]

16. OMG!!!!!!!!

How long before monkeyboy comes out and says in press conference that "We will find out who knows about this and get them of this administration." aka Skooter.

[bluestateguy]

17. The Congress must hold hearings

And Colondoleezza Rice must testify, if she wants to finish out her term.

[Politicalboi]

120. I hear her now

"I don't recall" The Dems say ok nothing here to see.

[downindixie]

18. I would like to know

who with the need to know accessed his file and for what reason?

[AllexxisF1]

21. Exactly.....

Not just that because you can bet your ass Condi, the White House and everyone else KNEW about this. Their is absolutely NO WAY that they would not have known about this.

Congress needs to have an investigation tomorrow and drag everyone's ass in and get to the bottom of this pronto.


God I can already see it now....on Drudge or Condi's guys over at Faux stories about his travels just to raise questions.


THIS IS A MAJOR STORY....kiss Rev. Wright Goodbye.

[Voice for Peace]

88. Yes, me too.

Government creeps?

[Barrymores Ghost]

20. Watergate Redux....Welcome to the Next Big News Cycle. K&R n/t

[Hissyspit]

27. Democratic National Committee headquarters - 1972

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watergate_break-in

[TexasLady]

29. and its a biggie

Jan, Feb, March were the months breached, by three different people.

[Auggie]

87. My first thought too -- but is MSM up to the task?

[Politicalboi]

122. Nope

Still talking about Rev Wright on Faux Noise.

[Shannon2008]

125. That would require true investigative reporting . . .

which, unfortunately, the MSM has not done at all this election cycle. I don't think they have uncovered any new details regarding any of the candidates other than what was snarffed from the blogoshpere. I think they became gun-shy after the NYT botched the McCain-Iseman story. Here's to hoping they can do this story justice and get to the bottom of whiffle-gate, three strikes and you're out. Someone put a mike on W. Five dollars says he'll say "THE TEMP DID IT".

[Auggie]

216. Welcome to DU, Shannon2008

:hi:

[Sodbuster]

23. If there is going to be a serious investigation

they are going to have to put these guys in protective custody...
no walks in the forest or near cliffs and definitely no traveling
in small planes...

[Virginian]

174. These spies -- I mean contractors may not even be American.

There are lots of people working as contractors for the government who are here on work visas. These people didn't have to have security clearances, just checks to see if they had an arrest record.

[deminks]

24. Fineman on KO: The State Dept called Obama's senate office today, not him or the campaign.

[defendandprotect]

111. Probably using cover of the holiday to cover this ---

[deminks]

28. KO, State department organizing a conference call. Jan 9, Feb 21, March 14 -3 separate events

Breaches occurred on 3 separate events

[Justitia]

31. Critical timeline, there. Interesting campaign milestones. Scary for security implications. -eom

[pompano]

30. Why the heartburn, now?

I'm sure this will not go unanswered. A watered down, non binding, "strongly worded letter" is being typed as we speak.

Now can we get back to pastorgate, please?
:sarcasm:

[The Backlash Cometh]

32. Damn, I'm glad someone is showing outrage for a breach in privacy.

I thought that had been lost during the Bush II years.

[Pavulon]

33. Like Britney's medical records...

interesting to look up but not worth your job. A PEP's records are usually monitored..

[fascisthunter]

113. really?

how interesting:eyes:

[Pavulon]

139. Yeppers. Request your OWN, before freaking

lots of fancy tools that monitor file access on UNIX and intel systems beyond the standard audit tools.

The content is what makes this interesting. So if the file had a ds11 and travel records who fucking cares.

If if it had more then there is an issues.

NCIC lookups and other catalogs contain MUCH more information. You would be surprised what LEXIS has online.

Look for what was in the file. That is the key.

Before everyone gets all hyped they may want to CALL the state department and REQUEST their own file.

[Shannon2008]

170. I doubt the info was in flat files . . . too much data . . . a database was compromised

[Pavulon]

225. If by compromised you mean a DBA or sysadmin

viewed records they should not have sure. Compromise happens at the application/front end. There is no reason to attack a database to get information if you have credentials that allow you access.

Sure you can "compromise" systems, but this sounds like, similar to britney, people with access looking at stuff they should not be looking at.

No one has said how much data was gathered. Again call and see what is in your file.

[Shannon2008]

168. I would've just taken Doctor Phil's word . . .

the chart said "THE B*TCH IS CRAZY"

[deminks]

34. Side bar - Scarborough (sp) said tonight that he thought next week we

would be talking about 'something else' (with emphasis) with regard to Obama. He said this on Greggory's show. Just a note to myself.

[deminks]

35. Finally a banner on CNN - I thought they were going to ignore.

http://www.cnn.com/

[deminks]

36. KO = Inspector General at State Dept decided it was not worthy of notification

[maddezmom]

37. looks like the job is vacant

Office of Inspector General



VACANT, Inspector General
William E. Todd, Deputy Inspector General

Welcome to the website of the Office of Inspector General (OIG) for the U.S. Department of State and the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG). This website is your best resource for information regarding the mission and activities of OIG, as well as the text and summaries of OIG reports and publications.

OIG inspects each of the approximately 260 embassies, diplomatic posts, and international broadcasting installations throughout the world, to determine whether policy goals are being achieved and whether the interests of the United States are being represented and advanced effectively. Additionally, OIG performs specialized security inspections and audits in support of the Department's mission to provide effective protection to our personnel, facilities, and sensitive intelligence information. OIG also audits Department and BBG operations and activities to ensure that they are as effective, efficient, and economical as possible. Finally, OIG investigates instances of fraud, waste, and mismanagement that may constitute either criminal wrongdoing or violation of Department and BBG regulations.

For a summary of OIG's most recent work, we invite you to review our Report Highlights available on this website.

Please contact us to report any allegations of fraud, waste, and mismanagement regarding the Department or the BBG. If you have general questions or comments about our website or our work, please contact the OIG webmaster.
http://oig.state.gov/

[deminks]

39. KO just said this. Another fly in the ointment. Who was acting in his place? Anyone?

[maddezmom]

42. probably the undersecretary William E. Todd

[maddezmom]

40. Howard "Cookie" Krongard departed Jan 15

Howard J. "Cookie"<1> Krongard (born December 12, 1940), was a political appointee in the government of President George W. Bush. Krongard is head of the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of State. His position is known as the State Inspector General or State IG. After being accused of averting probes into contracting fraud in Iraq and a possible conflict of interest regarding investigations into Blackwater Worldwide, Krongard left his post on January 15, 2008, and was not eligible for retirement.<2>

more:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Krongard

[rainbow4321]

38. Anyone else hit with a horrible bout of nausea...

Jesus Christ...how ugly is this going to get??

[MadMaddie]

102. It's going to be very ugly my friend.

1 time curiosity 3 times conspiracy.

[hisownpetard]

149. Pass the Pepto Abysmal, please.

[angrycarpenter]

41. What if they tapped in from Iraq?

Would they be exempt from the law? Contractors cannot be charged with a crime in Iraq.

[BadgerKid]

79. Similarly, who has access? Does timing corrlate w/M.E. visit (Dick?)? n/t

[YDogg]

86. interesting point

[biscotti]

44. Pete Williams

Reporting on KO that there was no criminal acts. Williams bud of Cheney saying it is not a crime. Give me a break. Joe De Geneva (?) We all know how trustworthy he is says there is no there there.
This stinks to high heaven.
They should have notified the Secret Service and Mr Obama immediately.:puke::puke:

[creeksneakers2]

81. Joe DeGenova was an independent counsel

tasked with investigating the illegal perusal of files on Clinton. He found laws were broken but decided not to prosecute....what could be expected of a wingnut investigating other wingnuts.

[defendandprotect]

112. Mr & Mrs DeGenova are useless right-wing alibi-ers .. .

[kestrel91316]

105. That's SENATOR Obama.

Yours truly,
The Grammar, Punctuation, and Etiquette Police

[rainbow4321]

46. "Imprudent curiosity" my ass

http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080320/NATION/541139809/1001

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was notified of the security breach yesterday, and responded by saying security measures used to monitor records of high-profile Americans worked properly in detecting the breaches.

Mr. McCormack said the officials did not appear to be seeking information on behalf of any political candidate or party.

"As far as we can tell, in each of the three cases, it was imprudent curiosity," Mr. McCormack told The Washington Times.

[Justitia]

47. Trying to downplay security breach of a Secret Service protected Presidential Candidate. -eom

[deminks]

48. Rice notified yesterday, but not Obama?????? Abrams reporting

Link for Rice being notified yesterday.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080320/NATION/541139809/1001

[kentj44]

49. is this

rovian ???????

[deminks]

50. Don't know, he did say he expected to be indicted by the end of the year.

I suspect that will be something else. I can hope for more than one indictment, can't I?

[peace frog]

203. Need you ask?

Question answers itself.

[badgervan]

51. Decidergate...

... has finally arrived. bye-bye, chimpy.

[bronxiteforever]

52. who hired the contractor? what political contacts did the contractor have?

[rateyes]

60. Probably the RNC.

:banghead:

[fascisthunter]

68. That's What I Want to Know!

[maddezmom]

78. those are very important questions

[DissedByBush]

234. The contractor's CEO is ... wait for it...

an advisor for Obama's campaign!

This rabbit hole might go pretty deep.

the story

[bronxiteforever]

236. I have to disagree with the sloppy article-there are 2 contractors and the the first Stanley Inc

is run by Phillip Nolan.His firm breached the security twice. He is Republican in most of the contributions except for Joementum.
Why didn't the Washington Times research simple facts? Or fail to mention this? Below are the public contributions of Nolan.

The second firm responsible for one breach is an Obama supporter.

Here is Nolan's official contributions.

http://www.newsmeat.com/fec/bystate_detail.php?zip=22101&last=Nolan&first=Philip


Here is a Kos article on it

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/3/21/172129/034/26/480008

[maddezmom]

53. IG will open an investigaion, however according to MSNBC IG has no authority to interview

the 2 fired employees as they no longer work for State. :argh:

[Justitia]

54. convenient, no? -eom

[FightTheRight89]

55. This is probably bad, but...

What the hell is going on? Unless I'm missing something, why would someone want to break into his file?

[high density]

57. See what they tried to do to Bill in 1992

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x5181342

[usregimechange]

56. Right wingers will go too far and it will all backfire on them

[rateyes]

58. Sec. Rice found out about it yesterday. Yeah, right.

Anyone who believes that meet me at my bridge in Brooklyn. I've got a helluva deal for you.

[fascisthunter]

59. What the F*ck Were They Accessing That Info For?

What would the purpose be, and who ordered the access!?


I'm sick of this right wing fascist shit! Start the impeachment process NOW!

[jwirr]

136. It might help if we knew what kind of information access to these

records could give us. What do they keep in these files?

[rateyes]

62. Why, instead of looking for Obama's passport file,

aren't they looking for those DAMNED MISSING E-MAILS????

motherf**cking bastards!

[maddezmom]

63. From the State Dept Conf Call: IG DIDN"T LEARN ABOUT BREACH UNTIL TODAY

[fascisthunter]

64. Yuh... BS. They all Knew. I'm Sick of the BS

No more!

[maddezmom]

67. just typing as I hear it

:hi:

[fascisthunter]

69. That Wasn't to You...lol

I'm just spouting in regard to what the IG is saying. Sorry:yoiks:

[maddezmom]

72. I know

:hug:

[panAmerican]

65. IG not knowing til today = he has no authority to investigate!!!!!!!!

Somebody needs a perp walk!

[panAmerican]

77. I'm not black American but I understand why they tend to be suspicious of the government

• Native Americans oppressed
• Slavery for nearly 250 years
• Nearly 100 years of Jim Crow and segregation after slavery
• 40 years of Tuskegee medical experiment on black men

So why give the government the benefit of the doubt? You can't put anything past them!

*edited typo

[MadMaddie]

106. That's all we have been saying....it's ironic no one elses

records were breached.

The fact that the State Department didn't feel it was important enough to inform Barak Obama when they found out.

[Dinger]

70. This Is Some Scary Shit

What are they planning to do to him? Or any Dem for that matter?

[fascisthunter]

74. That's What I'm Wondering Dinger

This is massive!

[sellitman]

71. Holy crap the repiggies are terrified of Obama!

They are pulling out all the stops.

This election my friends will make Kerry's Swiftboating look like childs play.

[biscotti]

73. They got them all out in force

now Ekcelburger is on. De Geneva, Pete Williams ....major ass covering going on.

[deminks]

75. Yeah, Ickyburger extolling his own virtues. Telling Abrams to stop being histerical.

[hisownpetard]

161. Eageburger is a massive turd. Abrams couldn't wait to get him off the air!

[Doctor_J]

199. Is it fascism yet?

Or do we have to wait until the tanks are rolling behind Matt & Merry?

[maddezmom]

76. State Dept. doesn't know what they saw or what contractor they worked for

McCormack said it was not immediately clear what the contract employees may have seen in the records or what they were looking for. He said he did not know the names of the companies they worked for.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080321/ap_on_el_pr/obama_passport;_ylt=AqnlhlAsrR.62KeDg8Ed4sCWwvIE

I hope he finds this out ASAP, seems a tad important.

[deminks]

80. Somebody needs to impound those computers. Now. before 5 million emails are lost again.

as well as other information.

[AntiFascist]

82. Condi Rice and all the rest of the oil executive incompetents need to go NOW...

when can the IMPEACHMENT proceedings begin?

[bigworld]

83. What info is on these files?

Info on the passport holder's travels? What else?

[Pavulon]

85. Your ds11

a bad picture. travel info. inbound outbound data.

Will be interesting to see if there is any meat to this.

[Aviation Pro]

84. OK, now I'm all in for Senator Obama....

...now that he's been exposed to the blunt end of the Republican stick I hope he remembers that

THERE IS NO NEGOTIATION WITH TERRORISTS!

And the entire Republican party is comprised of terrorists. He must pursue them to the ground. No quarter.

[Ilsa]

I'll join you! He must pursue them to the ends of the earth.

No prisoners! (except the ones we want to waterboard for fun!)

[MissDeeds]

89. What contractor did they work for?

I heard on Dan Abrams that the contractor is headquartered in Andover, but is that Andover, VA or MA? If we know the location, we can learn the name of the contractor.

[bonito]

90. Looks like DA MOB has gotten too big for its britches

Or out the range of blind eyes.

[defendandprotect]

91. THREE different times . . . !!! !!!

Two fired, one disciplined . .. ???? !!!!

[defendandprotect]

92. "Contract employees" --- !!! ????

[Shannon2008]

130. I'm calling this whiffle-gate . . .

Three strikes and you're out!

[Echotrail]

94. You don't suppose they were partisan contractors?

:sarcasm:

This is what happens when you outsource your government.

[Politicalboi]

126. No they worked for

CLINTON enough said........... Step down Hillary you are DONE.

[bluerum]

95. Fired?!? They should be prosecuted.

[Pastiche423]

96. Have the media given out the names of the three?

If not, why not?

[maddezmom]

100. probably because State is holding all of it for now

they commented earlier they don't know who this people were contacted by either. not that I believe them, but that's where the story is at this moment.

[Occulus]

183. Whoa, wait... wait...

State doesn't know, exactly, who its contractors are?

Did I read your post correctly?

[Frisbee]

104. This just in...

Due to "credible" threats from "reliable" sources, the terror level raised to orange. j/k

[Politicalboi]

127. LOL

And now the boggie man Osama is back too.

[jgundrey]

107. They're saying no political motivation...

But why, then, did these people only look at Obama's file? Wouldn't "imprudent curiosity" have led them to look at other high profile people, too? Like, Hillary and McCain? Something doesn't smell right, here.

[MissDeeds]

110. Exactly

And how would they know this before a thorough investigation is undertaken?

[Zambero]

108. This is also a breach of personal security

There are serious implications beyond the more obvious privacy issue. The fact that this has ocurred on multiple occasions since January raises a lot of questions. Having a major party candidate for the presidency having his or her fundamental rights violated by a government agency is a grave injustice, and if it turns out this was systematic information collection done for political purposes, it warrants action beyong firing a couple of contracted subordinates.

[IsItJustMe]

182. Not only that, but what about the physical safety of Obama? What types of information did they

gather and for what purpose. I am sure they will try to sweep this under the rug. I prey that the congress will get to the bottom of this. And since Obama is a presidential candidate with SS protection, these people who were fired need to be questioned extensively to find out exactly what information they gathered and who did they give it out to and for what purpose.

[bdamomma]

114. welcome to bush's america

this is really disgusting, no such thing as privacy no longer. Can we throw them out now, and I don't think the whole thing was innocent either. Rove has his thugs doing his work.

[Earth Bound Misfit]

121. "imprudent curiosity" BWAHAWAHAWHAW!!!!

This will be a VERY INTERESTING story, to say the least. Looks like ANOTHER sleepless night.
:beer: :popcorn:

[scarface2004]

123. they are going to set obama up!!

drugs, high class call girls, kiddie porn, serial killing, drinking, using profanity, not washing hands after using the toilet!!! better fasten your chin straps!

[jwirr]

124. Watergate?

[AllexxisF1]

128. HOLY SHIT!

KO REPORTING THAT LAURA HARDY (State Dept Official in charge of the Office of Couselor Affairs) of the first two breaches (who left last month IS TIED TO CLINTON ADMINISTRATION.

[Shannon2008]

134. REJECT and DENOUNCE . . .

That's all you have to do these days.

[TexanIndian]

148. You Obamaniacs - Don't you see the double standards?

Mr. OBA-judgemental-MA-niac's preacher of 20 years utters racially biased views and anti-patriotic sentiments, then those are his views only, not that of Mr. Holiness OBA-judgemental-MA-niac himself.. If an ex-vice-presidential nominee even suggests remotely that the country may have given BO more leeway because of his background, then not only is she guilty of racism, but also Hillary is guilty because she after all associated with Ferraro...

I don't see how you creeps can blame Hillary if some rogue supervisor who may have had ties with the Clintons was even remotely involved in some one looking at BO's passport.

Oh and by the way, tell Mr. Righteous that he is full of ***t when he thinks just because he did not run a campaign in Michigan or Florida, he is somehow entitled to half the delegates from those states even though any 6 year old (doesn't Mr. Righteous has a 6 year old?) can tell you that if you didn't get half the votes you don't get half the delegates? And also, why is Mr. Judgement is running scared of a redo of the primaries?

Mr. BO, you are full of it, so stop pretending that you are a different kind of politician. You have no higher integrity than any of the others that are running besides you.

[Shannon2008]

153. No . . . I don't

That's kinda like blaming BO for what Wright said when BO wasn't at church . . . If the Clinton campaign had not tried to change the rules and bar Independents from voting in the primary, I'm sure the MI state legislature would have moved forward with a primary. Quit sniping man . . . losing is not so bad . . . said the turtle to the rabbit.

[Politicalboi]

169. You Hillbots

Should read the rules before you play the game. FL and MI were not going to count..........Hillary cannot win and if this story gets some legs it might be real interesting. A rogue supervisor indeed.
Hillary not the most electable but the most despicable. Oh and "Thanks Karl"

[mrJJ]

131. Now the fun part

Yeps confirmed low level admin that withheld sending info up the chain of command at State Dept linked to Clintons

[defendandprotect]

132. The headlines says . .. "State Dept Officials Fired" . . . were the

"Contract employees" . . . State Dept Officials . . . ???

How does that make sense?



??????

[kevinbgoode]

137. The public should be allowed to know the names of these people

And then we should be granted all tapes of the sermons of the ministers over the last 20 years.

[wirikidor]

138. Is this really a violation of security?

I mean, a passport record is just showing where you've been. Shouldn't this be public knowledge for all public officials? I can understand not telling where you're going for security purposes, but after you've already been there then what's the harm in that?

[Politicalboi]

144. Welcome to DU winkidor

Welcome to the machine. It's kinda like the wiretapping if your not doing anything wrong then who cares. It's a matter of privacy and unconstitutional without your knowledge. And now we find out that it could be very political and it stinks to high heaven.

[Richardo]

152. Also: Address, e-mail address, Social Security number...

...lots of personal info in those records.

[station agent]

141. Being a Senator could come in handy

Being on the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee could really come in handy. How bout some hearings? Barack could Ask about this himself.

[Pavulon]

143. PSSST. Call and ask for your own file

see what is in it. Then decide if this is a crisis or drama.
Telephone Number: 1-877-4USA-PPT (1-877-487-2778)

Hint,
DS11 and itineraries. Where, how long, and any notes from embassy.

[PSPS]

150. Poppy bush did the same thing with Bill Clinton's passport records in 1992.

[mmonk]

151. As Sibel has indicated,

the State Department is the most corrupt.

[dchill]

154. Well, it looks like Obama HAS been...

vetted, after all, does it not?
:shrug:

[George II]

155. They're saying that one of the "supervisors" (i.e., higher-ups) was a Clinton appointee!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[hisownpetard]

165. The superviser of the first two violators, who decided that it was all done in harmless fun and who

fired both of them, is the woman who was appointed to an Ambassadorship by Bill Clinton.
Hmm - surely she would not in any way want to curry favor with the Clintons by gathering information against Obama that could be considered
(allow me to use a common phrase) "kitchen sink" type material?

[DFW]

158. I heard that the Clinton campaign was absolutely furious over this

They were demanding to know why Hillary's passport information wasn't being illegally
investigated, too, and protested that Obama was getting preferential treatment.

[Occulus]

186. .

:spray:

DUzy.

[DFW]

231. Looks like we were laughing prematurely:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3237554

Never underestimate Republican capacity to live up to and exceed our worst expectations!

[mrJJ]

160. Clinton Crony

The so called low level state department official who didnt kick the Obama breach info up the chain of command was an ex Clinton appointed ambassador...
she was the person in charge of ( Office of Couselor Affairs) where the first two breaches occured.

[Shannon2008]

172. Get those phone logs . . .

I'm sure there was some 3 AM phone calling going on . . . only, this time she didn't answer it . . . she had Margaret Williams place the call

[suffragette]

162. Note difference in British coverage

Claims of dirty tricks after security breach on Obama passport details
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/claims-of-dirty-tricks-after-security-breach-on-obama-passport-details-799035.html

{i}The security breach has echoes of other Republican dirty tricks operations. Mr Obama's confidential files were first accessed after he defeated Hillary Clinton in the Iowa caucus at the beginning of January.

~snip~

In 1991 a similar security breach occurred when Bill Clinton's passport details were improperly obtained at the time he was challenging George Bush's father for the presidency. That was accompanied by a request for assistance from Britain's Conservative government for details about Mr Clinton's time at Oxford. The security breach also has echoes of the Watergate break-in during the Nixon administration.

~snip

The Air America broadcaster Rachel Maddow said the senator had "brought light and not heat to a subject on which there is so much heat", adding: "I actually think the speech did call out to Americans' better angels." Howard Fineman, of Newsweek, called the speech "gutsy".

First, directly bringing up the similarity to previous "Republican dirty tricks operations" and specifically notng not just the 1st date but what was occurring then.

Next, specifics about this being done to Bill Clinton when challenging George the elder and connecting it to requests made to Britain at the time.


Finally, after writing about Obama's recent speech, a Rachel Maddow quotation. Ok, not exactly on topic, but hey a Rachel quote written about across the pond - worth a mention.


All in all, really points out the omissions in U.S. reporting. I'm sure more details will come in te next round of reports, but look at the difference right now.

What went on here definitely needs to be tracked down - NOW.

[krkaufman]

163. Did this developing story really warrant all of Countdown's time? Ugh. n/t

[Shannon2008]

173. Damn skippy . . .

It sure did. I'll be upset if they don't get to the bottom of it quickly.

[krkaufman]

176. Yeah, but 60 minutes of speculation, without any other coverage?

The story will still be there tomorrow, so 30 minutes would have provided just as much info.

[Fovea]

164. This was not a simple screw up

This was abuse of the system by wannabe political operatives.

They should be arrested.

[gauguin57]

171. The breachers just wanted to determine whether Obama, indeed, had been to Funkytown.

The passport stamp is right there.

[usregimechange]

179. Who did this?

[FatDave]

180. A few thoughts and questions

(In advance, I'm sorry if anyone has already mentioned these things. I tried to read all the responses, but this thread is growing quickly)

First of all, why now? The first incident happened 2-and-a-half months ago, so they sat on it for a long time. And we know these are not people who voluntarily offer up information. They would do everything in their power to keep this quiet. So why all of a sudden, out of the blue, do they call Obama's senate office and say, "Oh, sorry, but we did this thing..." Was the story about to break in a different, maybe more sensational manner?

And there were 3 incidents (that we know of). Why were 2 fired but 1 just disciplined? What was the difference with that one?

Some speculation: we all want to know who these contractors were, what other contacts they may have had, who else they could have been working for. Just remember that the pattern in this administration has been to give out contracts based almost entirely on loyalty as opposed to ability.

Some wild speculation: Once sensitive information is breached like this, I'll bet within the department that information becomes not so sensitive for awhile. The bosses have to see just what it was that was seen. It probably becomes evidence. Who knows how extensively it then gets passed around. Once a contractor looks at it with no good reason (and gets fired) the higher ups then have good reason to access it themselves. "Why were you looking at the Obama passport?" "I was just following up on our little contractor breach." Now put your tinfoil hat on with me and imagine tricking some dumb data-entry contractor to look at sensitive data, just to get your excuse to look at it for whatever purposes you might have. Hell, imagine getting their password and logging in as them.

[Donkeykick]

212. I See That You're Thinking The Same Things.

;)

[kitty1]

181. Sounds like Total Intel Services (subsid of BW) or Dyncorp....

was behind this. Apparently these companies help design and build security systems for the State Dept, and could be key suspects behind the breach.
I wouldn't put it pass them. They do this kind of espionage on a global scale all the time.

[peacetheonlyway]

184. What part of DU is shocked by this news??? not me

when you don't impeach......

when you don't prosecute criminal behaviour like Harriet's contempt citation till 7 months later (Fuck you Pelosi)

when you let the criminals strong arm you into thinking you are the weaker race


then , by god, you deserve every aspect of criminal activity on your behalf...

you can't let Pelosi get away with murder and wonder and scream UNFAIR when murder is committed against Obama.

the democratic party either wakes up now or it never does..

the time is NOW to grow a fucking backbone...

[BlueJessamine]

185. Congress Should Investigate

Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi should immediately call for a full investigation.

[greyghost]

187. Beautiful, simply beautiful, let us not wait for the other shoe to...

fall.

Check all of the land lines, plane etc. for listening devices.

[McCamy Taylor]

190. Did all you guys post this much about the War yesterday? You remind me of fangirls

celebrating Brittney Spear's new hairdo.

What is with all the celebrating? If Obama accidentally cut off his toe would you have orgasms?

[panAmerican]

191. MAURA HARTY - is it confirmed yet that she was the snoopers' boss?

[Eagle_Eye]

193. The republicans thought that they would never get caught

After all, they have experience in searching passport records from 1992

My concern at this point is who else had their passport records, tax records, arrest records, gun buying records, driving records and library card usage accessed by the republicans.

[TomClash]

195. Op research

And those who don't think so are naive.

[Vinca]

196. One question that needs to be asked immediately is whether or not

the file was copied and shared. This stinks to high heaven.

[Doctor_J]

198. Whoever did this in 2000 and 2004 should have been executed by now

publicly. This might provide a deterrent to these criminals.

[subsuelo]

200. Question -- who found out about this? I saw on news this morning a journalist first asked

I didn't catch the whole clip, but what I caught was: ABC news reported that a journalist first asked, I believe the state dept about it? And then that was the first time they say they knew anything? Does anyone have more info on that?

[paparush]

204. State Dept Fires Two Contractors For Accessing Obama's Passport File

Source: BBC

The US Department of State has fired two contractors and disciplined a third for accessing the passport file of presidential hopeful Barack Obama.

A spokesman for the department, Sean McCormack, said the cases were probably the result of "imprudent curiosity".

But he said it was not clear what the employees may have seen or what they were looking for.

A spokesman for Mr Obama suggested that the government could be using private information for "political purposes".

The BBC's North America editor, Justin Webb, says it is an extraordinary lapse in security which allowed temporary state department employees access to personal information on a man who is guarded by the secret service day and night .

'Security breach'

The state department tracks those who access its passport database.

Breaches occurred on three separate dates - 9 January, 21 February and 14 March.

"We believe this was out of imprudent curiosity, so we are taking steps to reassure ourselves that that is, in fact, the case," Mr McCormack said.

Bill Burton, a spokesman for Mr Obama's campaign, called for a full investigation.

"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," he said.

"Our government's duty is to protect the private information of the American people, not use it for political purposes."

"We 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."




Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7308098.stm

[TheCowsCameHome]

205. "Imprudent curiosity"

What a crock of crap.

These two had a burning fetish for gathering passport information?

Give me a break.

[marylanddem]

206. Shades of Watergate...

[paparush]

207. Yeat another extraordinary lapse in security. Nothing to see here...move along.

[Eurobabe]

208. This story is getting more outrageous by the minute...

Nefarious indeed. Who's in charge of the State Dept.?? They need to be FIRED!! Condi? Got those seat numbers yet?

[wordpix]

223. MSNBC reports these "imprudent" contractors also snooped into McCain's files

[Deny and Shred]

209. Isolated incident. And the wiretaps are used against terrorists only.

[BlueManDude]

210. Who are these two people, Liddy and Segretti?

[KansDem]

211. And some folks still don't believe in LIHOP/MIHOP on 9/11

...when Bush sat and did nothing while 3,000 or our fellow citizens were being murdered.

We're dealing with some pretty sleazy people here!

[Sean Stuart]

213. They're simply trying to prepare for Obama in the GE. The only surprise is that they got caught.

Obama's success has been a surprise to them, and now they're trying to catch up. I'm sure they have Hillary files that fill whole cabinets. There are probably whole teams of Republicans in and out of government whose sole job is to dig up dirt on Hillary Clinton. Now that Obama is looking like the inevitable candidate, they need to get their ammo together.

"Did you know that during one of Obama's trips to Africa, he was unaccounted for for nearly (1) hour? I wonder if he could have met with an Al Qaeda operative."

"Wow, that certainly is a scary scenario, Sean Hannity."

[indio55555]

215. I can already see this....

Obama's weak point is he only visited one NATO country since 2005, and never visited a Latin America country. This was the source of newspapers which Hillary and or McCain can't use for their campaign, so all of a sudden this passport thing comes up. Now in a week or so all the info from the passport will be public magically so Hillary or McCain can use this for their benifit.

[progressoid]

218. State Dept is going to hold a conference call around 9:10 pm.

Yeah, because that's when you get the most coverage...9:10 p.m.

:eyes:

[Peace Teacher]

219. They deserve to loose their jobs.

[panAmerican]

220. CLINTON FILE ALSO BREACHED IN 2007

[panAmerican]

221. McCain file also breached; but i think "extra" breaches were done as a cover up

[Thepricebreaker]

230. Why because they reported Obama's first?

[wordpix]

222. BREAKING---State Dept to make statement on MSNBC at 12:10 pm!

[AndyTiedye]

226. They Watergate Us Every Day Now

[debunkthelies]

227. Passport-gate

It's funny that the same thing happened to Bill Clinton when he ran against H.W. Bush, Bush sent his lackeys in to dig up dirt on Bill about his visit to Russia. Hm-mm, curious don't ya think?:rofl:

[Bragi]

229. This story could go on forever

Every friggin' celebrity or celebrity wannabe will now be asking how many times their passport information has been checked, and every time that number is greater than zero, they'll be yelling in the media.

So what's the average number of accesses a year for a normal passport holder? Seriously.

And is it now possible for media to request/get the personal information contained in passport applications? Or at least some of the information?

And what about other types of government information.? How many times has Obama's income tax and/or investment information been internally accessed in the last 5 years, for example, and by whom and for what purposes? How much of this is public information?

[panAmerican]

235. Thepricebreaker, I've been in IT long enough to know you can hide something in plain sight

There exist no-tech and low-tech approaches to accomplish that.

The low-tech approach: free (or extremely, extremely cheap) programs that you can use to alter the timestamp of files. Just select the files whose date and time you want to change and presto! You can be precise down to HH:MM:SS.

I was going to share the no-tech approach, but I don't want to enable troublemakers. Suffice it to say it's quite easy.

The State dept could have established "dummy files" for the purpose of training new employees. There is absolutely no need to make "live" or "real" records available to newbies. What if they accidentally deleted or altered something?! This is GROSS incompetence.

[bitchkitty]

239. Wowee!

Although I'm not sure it's as sinister as it appears...

I worked at the Credit Bureau in the 80s - we weren't aware of it, but they put an alert on the system so that if we printed any files, they would know about it. We were not aware of it and were merrily printing our own files, our friends, family, the Governor, the President, etc. When we were caught we were not fired (mercifully, although we probably should have been), just warned.

When people are bored, as temporary employees often are, they look for something to do, like reading famous people's credit reports. Or maybe reading their passport records?

It's very scary when you think about it - your information is not safe, never was and probably never will be...