Posted on 10/28/2008 2:33:12 AM PDT by jpeg82
this is a constitutional question...i believe this would be a direct violation of his first amendment rights to free speech, what with the government attacking and finding ways to intimidate and discredit him..
Fourth Records check
http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2008/10/28/joe28.ART_ART_10-28-08_B1_R9BNM6O.html?sid=101
Family Services checks on ‘Joe’
Routine search part of policy, not politics, director says
Tuesday, October 28, 2008 3:20 AM
By Randy Ludlow
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher lives with a 13-year-old son in Toledo.
Ohio’s inspector general is investigating why a state agency director approved checking the child-support computer system for information on “Joe the Plumber.”
Helen Jones-Kelley, director of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, confirmed yesterday that she OK’d the check on Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher after the Oct. 15 presidential debate, in which he was mentioned repeatedly by Republican Sen. John McCain.
Amid questions from the media and others about “Joe the Plumber,” Jones-Kelley said she approved a check through the Support Enforcement Tracking System to determine whether he was current on any ordered child-support payments. She said the check was not politically motivated.
It is unclear whether Wurzelbacher is involved in a child-support case, and Jones-Kelley said such information cannot be publicly shared. Reports state that he lives with a 13-year-old son in suburban Toledo.
“Our practice is when someone is thrust quickly into the public spotlight, we often take a look” at them, Jones-Kelley said, citing a case where a lottery winner was found to owe past-due child support.
Ohio Inspector General Thomas P. Charles confirmed that he is investigating the incident to determine whether the check on “Joe” was proper.
The use of a state computer system to search for information on Wurzelbacher is the fourth uncovered by The Dispatch.
Gov. Ted Strickland, a Democrat, is satisfied that there are no political overtures to the check on Wurzelbacher, a spokesman said.
“Based on what we know to this point, we don’t have any reason to believe the information was improperly accessed or disclosed by a state employee,” said Keith Dailey, Strickland’s press secretary.
The state attorney general’s office said yesterday that information on “Joe” was accessed from a test account it shared with contractors who developed a computer network for the Ohio Association of Chiefs of Police.
The State Highway Patrol is investigating the “unauthorized access,” said Jennifer Brindisi, spokeswoman for Attorney General Nancy H. Rogers. Access to the account was given to the unidentified contractors four years ago, she said.
State Highway Patrol records indicate that investigators have a suspect, who is identified as a contractor for the Ohio Department of Insurance. The patrol has seized an agency computer as evidence.
At least four state computer checks on Wurzelbacher were conducted shortly after McCain brought up “Joe the Plumber” during his final presidential debate with Democratic Sen. Barack Obama on Oct. 15. State and local investigators are checking whether the computer systems were illegally accessed.
Republicans have suggested that the checks were politically motivated invasions of Wurzelbacher’s privacy and attempts to dig up dirt to discredit the man. Obama’s campaign says it has nothing to do with the incidents and joined Republicans in calling for investigations.
The attorney general’s office was unaware that contractors for the police chiefs’ association still had access to state information, Brindisi said. The contractors developed the Ohio Local Law Enforcement Information Sharing Network, which now is operated by the attorney general’s office. Security codes since have been changed and access limited to test accounts, she said.
The Dispatch reported on Saturday that authorities are investigating why driver’s license and vehicle registration information on “Joe” was pulled from Bureau of Motor Vehicles computers.
BMV information on Wurzelbacher also was obtained through accounts assigned to the Cuyahoga County Child Support Enforcement Agency and the Toledo Police Department. Both checks are under investigation.
Looks like a young Urethra Franklin.
Fox and Friends said that this may be a felony.
Jail her now. Investigate later.
man..we need to stomp on this now!!!Shades of what’s to come under his highness!!!
Figures.
For those democRATs to assert this was not politically motivated requires a total suspension of disbelief. This was a complete abuse of power and heads should roll. And that test account should be closed out forthwith.
This is the fourth time they've been CAUGHT by ONE newspaper...
Our practice is when someone is thrust quickly into the public spotlight, we often take a look
WTH kind of excuse is that? LOL!
So, Ohio people now pay this organization to do political research to destroy private citizens.
How Nice.
Birds of the feather flock together. What a shame but It’s what we can expect with the false prophet.
No scandal here, says Ohio's Democrat Governor, Ted Strickland.
I guess we should all move along now, since there is nothing to see, no scandal or laws broken, or nuthin'.
LOL!
Merely a hint of the Big Brother activiites to come under an Obama administration.
She should be fired. Citizens should demand this.
I expect many more files to be accessed if The Messiah is elected, and a lot of FBO FBI files to be purged of damaging information as soon as possible.
Isn’t it ironic that the so-called freethinking progressives who scream the loudest about the Patriot Act being an “invasion of their privacy” or my personal favorite, “Government—out of OUR bodies” NOW members, are the most quiet when an indivisual dares to ask an unconfortable question to their presidential canidate????
Don’t ya think????-—(with apologies to Alanis M.)
The ACLU should be outraged by this given their past history. I read so and so’s name in the paper so I ran a background check on him ? What up with that? The Obamabot’s will bring back the Militia movement if they keep this scary stuff up. And how in the world did Ohio get to be so bad ?
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