Passport Probe Obama Link?

March 22nd, 2008 By: Michael van der Galien | Tags:

The Washington Times reports that the US “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.

Allahpundit writes:

 Eh. I mocked the left and Team Barry for hyperventilating over this on Thursday night so I won’t respond in kind. Brennan used to be head of the NCTC; if he’s burning to learn McCain’s social security number, surely he knows ways of getting it that don’t leave fingerprints and don’t involve unreliable low-level employees. It’s much ado about nothing.

But the Obama campaign acted as if it is a major issue (and to a degree, I think there’s something to that; as I understand it, the employers may have broken the law. That should always be a big deal), so this possible connection is… awkward.

And no, that doesn’t mean that Obama knew about it, etc. etc., but it does give a twist to the story. A significant one even.

If true.

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  1. Michael Merritt
    March 22nd, 2008 at 19:44
    Reply | Quote | #1

    So it is then reasonable to suspect a possible link to the McCain or Clinton camps from the other snoopers?

    Interesting, this.

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