Friday, March 21, 2008 - Page updated at 08:36 AM
E-mail article
Print view Share:
Digg
Newsvine
Election 2008
2 fired for looking into Obama's passport files
The Washington Post
WASHINGTON — The State Department said Thursday night that it had fired two contract employees and disciplined a third for accessing Sen. Barack Obama's passport files.
Obama's presidential campaign called for a "complete investigation."
State Department spokesman Tom Casey said the employees had individually looked into the Democratic presidential hopeful's passport file on Jan. 9, Feb. 21 and March 14. To access such a file, the employees must first acknowledge a pledge to keep the information private.
The department would not release the names of the three employees.
Another State Department spokesman, Sean McCormack, said it was not clear what the contract employees may have seen in the records or what they were looking for but added that an investigation into the employees' motives and backgrounds had begun. He said he did not know the names of the companies they worked for.
The employees were each caught because of a computer-monitoring system that is triggered when the passport accounts of a "high-profile person" are accessed, Casey said.
The system, which focuses on politicians and celebrities, was put in place after the State Department was embroiled in a scandal involving the access of the passport records of presidential candidate Bill Clinton in 1992.
The department uses contract employees to help with data entry, customer service and other administrative tasks. The employee involved in the March 14 incident has only been disciplined so far, because the investigation of that incident is continuing, an official said.
Though the workers were caught by a computer system that focuses on high-profile people, Casey said a computer report is generated on every access to passport records and spot checks are taken to ensure that employees are not violating the Privacy Act.
Obama, who represents Illinois in the Senate, was born in Hawaii and lived in Indonesia for several years as a child before returning to the states. As a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he has traveled to the Middle East, the former Soviet states and Africa, where in 2006 he and his wife, Michelle, publicly took HIV tests in Kenya to encourage people there to do the same.
Obama's father was born in Kenya, and the senator has relatives there.
It was unclear why it took so long for the first two incidents to be reported to senior management.
Material from The Associated Press and McClatchy Newspapers is included in this report.
Copyright © 2008 The Seattle Times Company
UPDATE - 12:34 AM
Bill Clinton meets with Senate Dems on health care
UPDATE - 12:16 AM
FBI reassessing past look at Fort Hood suspect
UPDATE - 11:36 PM
Sources: Obama near decision on Afghanistan troops
McGinn next Seattle mayor; Mallahan concedes as vote gap widens
High court looks at life sentences for juveniles

nwjobs

Post a comment

Michelle Goodman blogs about work/life balance.
How to tell your office you're gravely ill
Post a comment
nwautos

Choosing a new sedan? Weigh the impact of your choice on your wallet and on the planet.
Post a comment
- 'Missing' SeaTac man found with new name, in new state
- Police: DNA from officer's slaying matches suspect
- Prosecutors consider charges against suspect in police shooting
- Three more fires ignite in Greenwood
- Steve Kelley | Hasselbeck gives Seahawks' sagging season a stay of execution
- Plans call for Triangle to become West Seattle gateway
- Bill Clinton meets with Senate Dems on health care
- Trucker dies as big-rig plummets off SF bridge
- Washington coordinator Nick Holt says his Huskies defense is improving
- McGinn next Seattle mayor; Mallahan concedes as vote gap widens
- For 80-year-old Maple Valley man, hoops aren't just a dream
- Plans call for Triangle to become West Seattle gateway
- Three more fires ignite in Greenwood
- 10 ways to take control of your health
- The birth of 'Grunge,' in photos by Michael Lavine
- 'Missing' SeaTac man found with new name, in new state
- Bombs, guns found at home of suspect in Officer Brenton's slaying
- Taste | Ruth Reichl still reigns as queen of America's culinary scene
- Silver Lake restaurant destroyed by fire
- Pakistani-American cafe, bar owner on verge of being Granite Falls mayor







