Posted on 09/27/2005 9:37:55 PM PDT by smoothsailing
The Democrats Go Dumpster Diving
By Michelle Malkin
September 28, 2005
Have you heard about what New York Sen. Charles Schumer's meddling minions tried to do here in my home state of Maryland to embarrass a Republican opponent?
Don't bother with The New York Times if you want details. Since revelations of the scandal first broke a week ago on the national wires and in the rest of the New York media, the Times has failed to print a single word about the Dems' invasive -- and obviously illegal -- dumpster diving.
Republican Lt. Gov. Michael Steele, a rising star in the party, is considering a Senate bid for the Maryland seat being vacated by Democrat Paul Sarbanes next year.
Apparently threatened by the prospect of a strong, popular, black Republican candidate, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee got down and dirty. Two of Schumer's staffers on the committee, including a former top researcher for David Brock's left-wing "think tank," obtained Steele's confidential credit report by using his Social Security number, which they had reportedly culled from court records.
Under federal law, it is illegal to knowingly and willfully obtain a credit report under false pretenses. The federal Fair Credit Reporting Act imposes a maximum two-year prison sentence for the crime.
Democrat spinners would have you believe that the two staffers involved in the apparent fraud, Katie Barge and Lauren Weiner, were young and inexperienced workers.
They're soft-pedaling the incident as an "isolated" occurrence on par with a high school prank. But Barge has been around the block, including stints as a researcher for Sen. John Edwards' failed presidential bid and as research director for Brock's Media Matters for America.
The two henchladies reportedly owned up to the act in July, were suspended with pay until Aug. 31, as the New York Post's Deborah Orin reported, and resigned earlier this month. Their dealings are being investigated by the fraud and public corruption section of the U.S. attorney's office in Washington, D.C., with help from the FBI -- which, according to Steele's staff, told the lieutenant governor that he was an obvious "victim of a crime."
Law enforcement officials are taking this criminal intrusion into private records deadly seriously. But left-wing partisans are nowhere to be found. Steele's staff tells me that longtime crusader against identity theft Sen. Schumer, who denies having any knowledge of the scheme, has still issued no apology for the abuse of Steele's personal data. And there has been no outcry from the ACLU, the champions of clean campaigns, or any major national newspaper editorial board.
(Protecting privacy only seems to matter to liberals when it comes to 14-year-old girls seeking abortions behind their parents' backs, illegal aliens seeking sanctuary from the police, and registered sex offenders objecting to community registration requirements.)
Needless to say, if it had been Republicans involved in this outrageous breach of privacy and the target had been a liberal minority politician, it would be front-page news. When asked by readers why the Times had not covered the story, ombudsman Byron Calame's office sent this obnoxious reply:
Dear Reader,
Thanks for writing and raising this issue. This office has no control over what is printed in the paper. It seems your message would be better directed to news-tips@nytimes.com.
The Times, it should be noted, is the same paper that happily received and printed a front-page story about an illegally obtained tape recording of a conference call with Republican leaders in 1996 that was leaked by Democrat Rep. Jim McDermott of Washington. McDermott's leak was condemned by U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Hogan last year as "willful and knowing misconduct [that] rises to the level of malice in this case." McDermott is busy raising money from lobbyists for his defense fund -- a violation of House rules that the Times' ethics mavens have blithely ignored.
Jaded journalists will shrug off what conservative author and talk show host Hugh Hewitt has dubbed
"Chuckaquiddick" by arguing that "everybody does it." If that is so, they should be leading the charge to find out who else at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has been doing it. And to whom they have been doing it.
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Michelle Malkin is author of "Invasion: How America Still Welcomes Terrorists, Criminals, and Other Foreign Menaces to Our Shores" (Regnery). Michelle Malkin's e-mail address is malkin@comcast.net.
COPYRIGHT 2005 CREATORS SYNDICATE, INC.
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Note -- The opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, views, and/or philosophy of GOPUSA.
I have her memorized : )
Coastal Dems are missing the boat. In SD, the state's big newspaper does the dumpster diving on Republicans so that the Daschle Dems can keep their hands clean.
Yes, this is low...even for Democrats...but dumpster-diving isn't illegal. Depositing trash in a collection area constitutes abandonment. There is no assurance of privacy at all once that has occurred. That's why you're supposed to use shredders, people. (And don't forget to mix up the shreddings with goodies from the critter litter box for color.)
Under federal law, it is illegal to knowingly and willfully obtain a credit report under false pretenses. The federal Fair Credit Reporting Act imposes a maximum two-year prison sentence for the crime.
This is a crime, however...JFK
All the same, dumpster-diving still isn't a crime.
And aroma.
The actual crime here is knowingly obtaining a credit report under false pretenses.
i do wish she'd not tried to be clever, it will simply drown her in a flood of nitpicks about how this isn't dumpster diving.
We need to compile all these incidents at one web address so Repubs can pull out the litany the next time the MSM & Dems jump all over a minor Repub infraction.
Good defense means good offense!
Under Fed law, knowingly and unlawfuly obtaining 900+ FBI files is illegal. And the FBI is NOT INTERESTED!!!!!!! Junior Sen. from N.Y. included!
Whats really great about this one is that the credit bureaus can go back and track which company requested the credit report on Steele or anyone else and they can then track it back to a specific individual who forged the written release for such information (since nobody which credit bureau access would be dumb enough to just do this with a paper trail to cover their butt). And once the company who requested the illegal record is located, they get audited by the credit bureau and all of the other requests they submitted with also be investigated. So not only will we have the illegal access of the record, but a forgery somewhere which can be analyzed for handwriting to link it to a specific criminal-to-be and we get the list of other victims. The credit bureaus are going to want to cooperate on this one to ensure that Congress doesn't pass more idiotic laws making it even harder for LEGAL access to these files.
And.....the real kicker is that in 1999 the Financial Privacy Information Act passed which allows private citizens to SUE FOR DAMAGES for illegal access of their private records - just for situations like this. So Steele can file suit and just start deposing people right and left. It could be an absolute Paula Jones trial but with real consequences this time.
"Chuckaquiddick"......I like it! Sure beats the obvious and banal "Schumergate"
The mainstream media can get downright snotty when it is revealed that THEY are covering up any reporting on "dirty tricks" by the very partisan politicians whom they support.
The Dem'crat senatorial campaign committee is practicing abuse of Social Security numbers for purposes other than legitimate provisions of the law, and the ACLU says NOTHING? States are not even allowed to use the Social Security number in conjunction with issuance of driver's licenses, and it may appear nowhere on voter rolls in any jurisdiction. And worse, the abuse is being perpetrated on behalf of Chuck Schumer, who evidently sincerely believes that the restrictions do not apply to HIM.
Even Medicare has ceased issuing cards that have the beneficiary's Social Security number, instead issuing a SECONDARY number that is put down on all the filings for claims.
This is a story I want to keep up with.If you see anything more about this,please ping me!
FRegards...
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