Security Breach at State Department Reveals Passport Records of all Three Presidential Candidates

By: Cesar Aguado

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice found herself in the position of apologizing to all three major Presidential candidates this week after contract workers illegally accessed their passport files. During her phone call to each of the candidates, Rice advised that the State Department was investigating the breaches to find out how they occurred, and apologized for the intrusions. The records had been accessed by three contract workers and one State Department staffer.

Hillary Clinton, who put personal business aside for the Easter weekend, said she would be closely monitoring the investigation.

The incident brought back memories of a 1992 breach in passport records when Bill Clinton was vying for the Presidency against George H.W. Bush. In that incident, Clinton’s passport and citizenship records were accessed by a Republican appointee. As a result of the incident he was demoted.

There was only one unauthorized access of Clinton’s records last summer, when an employee viewed the records as part of a training exercise with another employee. The illegal access of the records was immediately discovered, since high profile individuals have their records “flagged” with an alert to supervisors of unauthorized access of the files. In that incident, the employee was admonished.

One of the individuals who accessed McCain’s files earlier this year was also involved in the unauthorized access of Obama’s files. While it appears that the other candidates only had their passport files accessed once, Obama had his accessed on three separate occasions, including January 9, February 21, and March 14, 2008. The discovery of breaches in the passport files of Clinton and McCain were not discovered until March 21, once the investigation into the illegal access of Obama’s files was launched.

As far as the McCain files are concerned, the contract employee was reprimanded but not fired, and the employee no longer has the ability to access passport records. The two contractors who illegally accessed Obama’s files were summarily fired without being questioned first.

State Department Investigation Looms, with Potential Justice Department Involvement

The Inspector General of the State Department is investigating the illegal access of these records, which contain personal information that could be used to gain access to personal financial records. Passport records not only contain a record of all countries visited by the passport holder and the address of the passport owner at the time of application, but they also reveal the person’s place of birth, date of birth, and social security number. This is sensitive information that could be used to pull credit reports or commit other types of financial crimes. The release of such information could be detrimental to the financial independence of the candidates.

As of right now, it is unclear if the individuals involved in this matter had any political agenda, or if they were just curious about the candidates.

The Justice Department has said it will follow the State Department’s investigation closely, and will come to its own determination as to whether it needs to get involved. Despite clamoring by a senior House Democrat to reveal the names of the companies who employ the involved contractors, officials close to the investigation have not released that information. They state they wish to err on the side of caution prior to releasing such data.

As far as any criminal prosecution is concerned, the Justice Department said it will likely wait until the State Department has concluded its investigation before it decides whether to move forward. They also said the firings of the contract employees prior to being questioned will make the investigation more difficult, since the Inspector General can no longer compel them to talk.

The State Department’s top management official, Undersecretary Patrick Kennedy, agreed that the investigation should have been forwarded to senior officers and that the incident had been mishandled.

As far as the candidates are concerned, all three have accepted apologies, which they deemed appropriate, and agree that a comprehensive investigation is in order.

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