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Obama's Passport File Breached!
Olberman and MSNBC have the scoop. Two State Department employees fired, a third disciplined. First breach took place Jan. 9, then in February, most recent breach was march 14. State Department conference call scheduled for approx. 9:10pm tonight.
Wow!
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Comments (31)
What's in a passport file? I seriously don't know.
March 20, 2008 8:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's basically your entire travel record on file at the State Department. Bush 1 was caught snooping into Clinton's to see when he went to China. They're HIGHLY confidential and private. This was definitely someone getting paid to do some oppo research. This is huge.
March 20, 2008 8:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
Evidence that you're a secret muslim.
March 20, 2008 9:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
I was kinda wondering the same thing. I suspect it's more than just a list of the countries he's visited and when he visited them, but I could be wrong. It'd be great to hear from anyone who actually knew.
March 20, 2008 9:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
Boston Globe
http://www.boston.com/news/politics/politicalintelligence/2008/03/obama_demands_p.html
March 20, 2008 8:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hey pal, that's MY scoop!
March 20, 2008 8:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think it is Keith Olberman's scoop!
March 20, 2008 9:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
Who do you think this is?!
March 20, 2008 9:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
Your "scoop" has no info in the body, just your title/question.
March 20, 2008 9:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
j/k dude, j/k.
March 20, 2008 9:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
Smiling as I wrote it. Just wanting to play in my corner of the sandbox. Are we allowed to make smiley faces here?
March 20, 2008 9:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
V(^_^)V
March 20, 2008 10:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
Beat me to it.
March 20, 2008 8:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
Keep track of the statements issued by the State Department. It wasn't just one breach, it was three, three separate occasions. First statement was that someone shared same birthday with obama and was just curious at looking at his secure passport file.
Statements by the administration will get more pathetic from here.
March 20, 2008 8:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
What's in a passport file?
http://www.talkleft.com/story/2008/3/20/20559/3085
March 20, 2008 9:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
That post is completely and utterly incorrect.
March 20, 2008 9:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
I guess you know because you did it
March 20, 2008 9:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
Other than the crazy conspiracy theory stuff at the end, what was wrong with it? (This is a sincere question, born of ignorance on the topic.)
March 20, 2008 10:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well, if he doesn't have anything to hide…
(Sorry, bad humor. Couldn't resist.)
March 20, 2008 9:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
I remember when they did this to the Clintons in 92. Nothing changes.
March 20, 2008 9:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
Actually the accessing without a need to know makes me wonder what the purpose was for? When accounts such as these are accessed the purpose is of course based on curiosity, but the information at greater risk of being breached due to the sensationalism with the public figures name.
These systems monitor and record each transaction and record each historical change to a record. There is also monitoring in effect where tracing access times and dates is also audited.
While it is possible to lose emails at the whitehouse it is effectively impossible to modify a file and not have that act forensically unaccountable at DOS.
So my guess? Digging for dirt or... curiosity killed the cat, on a system where the cat knew that the sword of damacales hung over the heads of the curious.
Strange...
My question, who is the constractor?
March 20, 2008 9:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
Three different people at three different times. Obama's people were only notified today, even though the first breach took place on Jan 9.
March 20, 2008 9:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
What if it were done by OBAMAFANS who just couldn't resist taking a peek?
March 20, 2008 9:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
Let me summarise:
Q: What if it was maliciously done by the administration or GOP or a foreign power?
A: Fire the employees, escalate to Secretary of State, inform Obama, open an external investigation, require all employees and contractors to sign a paper acknowledging they understand not to look at this stuff in the future.
Q: What if it was innocently done by Joe Q. Random?
A: Fire the employees, escalate to Secretary of State, inform Obama, open an external investigation, require all employees and contractors to sign a paper acknowledging they understand not to look at this stuff in the future.
Q: What if it was done by Obama fans?
A: Fire the employees, escalate to Secretary of State, inform Obama, open an external investigation, require all employees and contractors to sign a paper acknowledging they understand not to look at this stuff in the future.
Q: What if it was done by unicorns to make tasty cotton candy that cures cancer?
A: Fire the unicorns, escalate to Secretary of State, inform Obama, open an external investigation, require all employees and contractors to sign a paper acknowledging they understand not to look at this stuff in the future. Oh, and cure cancer.
March 20, 2008 9:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
Agree on all points, Karl
March 20, 2008 9:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
You know, one would think that after, oh, generously the SECOND time they would have a talk with all their contractors about accessing people's records.
March 20, 2008 9:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
OK, so there is no way of knowing if any of the files were copied, since the info was not passed up the chain of command, the Inspector General was only notified today, no investigation has been done, and the State Department is basing their info only on the low-level managers who covered this up.
March 20, 2008 9:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
I can't imagine what anyone would find in a passport file, aside from some personal information. The only thing that might be problematic would be Obama's Social Security number?
Sounds like the info itself is not a big deal, more that a presidential candidate's personal information was accessed and not reported up the chain of command.
Colossal PR problem for the State Department is the main issue at this point.
March 20, 2008 9:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
My guess is that the Bush Admin. will blame this on the Dems in Congress because their State Department head nominee hasn't been confirmed yet.
March 20, 2008 10:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
I mean, I don't know the extent of the information it would reveal, but still, it's the principle of the thing. I mean, these things are supposed to be private, and such a sluggish response to a violation of that privacy is, like you said, one ghoulish PR nightmare for the State Department. Frankly, I just going to kick back and bask in the windfall this is. The dog that is the MSM has a new chew toy to keep itself preoccupied with, so this stale Rev. Wright issue will grow increasingly insignificant. What's more, Obama will once again occupy all media outlets, only this time he's on the offensive, and can remind people of just how awful this administration and system is. He's been getting braver in his speeches lately, perhaps we'll see some more of that. Hillary will be marginalized, most likely, which is fine for me, because I can't stand to see her on TV anymore.
So I'm not going to ponder the specifics of it too much. Maybe it will erupt in a fabulously sordid mess of bureaucratic skullduggery, but no matter what, it's still all good press for Obama. The MSM has this story in their maw, and there's nothing that's to be done from it. Just relax and let the inevitable tide of punditry carry you away.
March 20, 2008 11:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
...and there currently is no Inspector General to do the investigation since the post vacated by "Cookie" Krongard has been vacant since his dec. 7, 2007 resignation over, what was it, perjury charges?
Fortunately, the person overseeing the office where this took place was a Clinton appointee, so that should make us all feel much better about it.
March 20, 2008 11:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
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