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State Department Acknowledges Unauthorized Access to Passport Records of Presidential Candidates

AP: “At least four State Department workers pried into the supposedly secure passport files of presidential contenders Hillary Rodham Clinton, Barack Obama and John McCain, abashed officials admitted Friday in a revelation that had Condoleezza Rice promising a full investigation and telephoning the candidates to apologize personally.”

  • Questions Taken at the March 21, 2008 Daily Press Briefing – Unauthorized Access to Passport Records: “There are approximately 180-200 million records in this system….We must await a final determination of the facts to determine what precise laws may have been violated. The passport records at issue here are protected by the Privacy Act of 1974. That Act generally prohibits non-consensual disclosures of personal information about U.S. citizens from a Privacy Act system of records, unless an exception applies.”
  • State Department Should Release Identity of Companies that Accessed Obama Passport File: “Chairman Waxman writes the State Department to request the name of the companies that hired the contractors who gained unauthorized access to Senator Obama’s passport files and to urge the State Department to release this information to the public.”
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