Related information:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/03/us/politics/03intel.html?_r=1
After Sharp Words on C.I.A., Obama Faces a Delicate Task
New York Times, The (NY) - Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Author: MARK MAZZETTI and SCOTT SHANE
Abstract: Pres-elect Barack Obama faces task of selecting Central Intelligence Agency director who holds beliefs consistent with those he espoused on campaign trail, where he was harshly critical of Bush administration’s most controversial counterterrorism programs, from hiding suspects in secret agency jails to questioning them with methods he denounced as torture; CIA veteran John O Brennan ‘s withdrawal from consideration for job sends message that those who worked in agency during war on terror may not have chance; Obama advisers are set to meet with group of retired generals and admirals, who will urge him to stand firm against deviation from military’s noncoercive interrogation rules, but even some senior Democratic lawmakers who have been vociferous critics of Bush administration policies want to retain flexibility on interrogation techniques (M)
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http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/14/us/politics/14web-brennan.html
John O . Brennan
New York Times, The (NY) - Friday, November 14, 2008
Author: MARK MAZZETTI
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http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/mar/22/passports-probe-focuses-on-worker/
Passports probe focuses on one worker - State Department to use polygraph in case
Washington Times, The (DC) - Saturday, March 22, 2008
Author: Bill Gertz and Jon Ward, THE WASHINGTON TIMES
EXCERPT
Mr. McCormack said yesterday there was a fourth person who breached the passport records, although he described it as a case of inadvertance. He said a passport office trainee last year was learning how to work with passport electronic records and searched for Mrs. Clinton’s file as a test, but was “immediately admonished, and it didn’t happen again.”
Working-level supervisors confronted the three employees after a computer alarm system was triggered by the effort to access Mr. Obama’s records.
“What didn’t happen is that that information didn’t rise up to senior management levels, so that we could be made aware of it. That should have happened,” Mr. McCormack said.
If senior officials were alerted to the intrusions, additional safeguards would have been used to protect the data, Mr. McCormack said.
Officials said the computer alarm that was set off includes a notification mechanism that should have alerted State’s inspector general. However, it is not clear whether the IG reviewed the improper computer activities, the officials said.
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(no link)
Passport Files of Three Presidential Candidates Were Breached
Los Angeles Times (LATWP News Service) (CA) - Friday, March 21, 2008
Author: Letta Tayler=(c) 2008, Newsday
EXCERPT
The contact workers opened Obama’s and McCain’s files earlier this year — in Obama’s case, as recently as last week. Supervisors were alerted by a computerized alert system that flags unauthorized peeks into high-profile passport files.
A fourth employee casually opened Clinton’s file last summer during a training session with another worker and was reprimanded, McCormack said.
Passport files include such information as Social Security numbers that could allow sleuths to access credit history and other personal details.
Two workers were from Stanley, Inc., a Virginia company that just signed a five-year, $570 million contract to work on the State Department’s passport database, The Associated Press reported. A third worker was contracted from the Analysis Corporation (TAC), which is headed by John O. Brennan, a former CIA agent who advises Obama’s campaign on intelligence and foreign policy, the Washington Times reported. The paper also said the State Department was conducting polygraph tests.
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http://www.nypost.com/seven/03212008/news/nationalnews/sneaks_peeked_at_obama_file_102896.htm
SNEAKS PEEKED AT OBAMA FILE - FEDS AX 2 PASSPORT GAWKERS
New York Post (NY) - Friday, March 21, 2008
Author: GEOFF EARLE Post Correspondent
EXCERPTS
The incidents occurred in January, February and March, as Obama burst onto the national scene to become a top contender for the Democratic presidential nomination, but Obama wasn’t informed about it until yesterday, his campaign said. Passport files are supposed to be kept secure under the Privacy Act, and employees are instructed not to read them without authorization.
The fired employees got caught by a computer system that monitors people who dig into files of “high-profile” individuals.
(snip)
State Department officials said the files probably contained Obama ‘s passport applications, which include information like date of birth, travel plans and Social Security number.
They couldn’t say for certain that the fired employees didn’t pass the information on.
Obama has a particularly diverse background that makes his file juicy. His father was from Kenya, and as a child, Obama lived in Indonesia - a country subject to travel warnings and terror threats.
He made a 2006 visit to Kenya that attracted national attention at the time, and more recently, when photos surfaced of him in tribal garb.
(snip)