Government computers used to find info on Joe the Plumber

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Source: http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2008/10/24/joe.html?sid=101

Investigators trying to determine whether access was illegal
Friday, October 24, 2008 8:57 PM
By Randy Ludlow


The Columbus Dispatch
"State and local officials are investigating if state and law-enforcement computer systems were illegally accessed when they were tapped for personal information about "Joe the Plumber." Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher became part of the national political lexicon Oct. 15 when Republican presidential candidate John McCain mentioned him frequently during his final debate with Democrat Barack Obama.
The 34-year-old from the Toledo suburb of Holland is held out by McCain as an example of an American who would be harmed by Obama's tax proposals.

Public records requested by The Dispatch disclose that information on Wurzelbacher's driver's license or his sport-utility vehicle was pulled from the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles database three times shortly after the debate.

Information on Wurzelbacher was accessed by accounts assigned to the office of Ohio Attorney General Nancy H. Rogers, the Cuyahoga County Child Support Enforcement Agency and the Toledo Police Department.

It has not been determined who checked on Wurzelbacher, or why. Direct access to driver's license and vehicle registration information from BMV computers is restricted to legitimate law enforcement and government business.

Paul Lindsay, Ohio spokesman for the McCain campaign, attempted to portray the inquiries as politically motivated. "It's outrageous to see how quickly Barack Obama's allies would abuse government power in an attempt to smear a private citizen who dared to ask a legitimate question," he said.

Isaac Baker, Obama's Ohio spokesman, denounced Lindsay's statement as charges of desperation from a campaign running out of time. "Invasions of privacy should not be tolerated. If these records were accessed inappropriately, it had nothing to do with our campaign and should be investigated fully," he said.

The attorney general's office is investigating if the access of Wuzelbacher's BMV information through the office's Ohio Law Enforcement Gateway computer system was unauthorized, said spokeswoman Jennifer Brindisi.

"We're trying to pinpoint where it came from," she said. The investigation could become "criminal in nature," she said. Brindisi would not identify the account that pulled the information on Oct. 16.
Records show it was a "test account" assigned to the information technology section of the attorney general's office, said Department of Public Safety spokesman Thomas Hunter.

Brindisi later said investigators have confirmed that Wurzelbacher's information was not accessed within the attorney general's office. She declined to provide details. The office's test accounts are shared with and used by other law enforcement-related agencies, she said.

On Oct. 17, BMV information on Wurzelbacher was obtained through an account used by the Cuyahoga County Child Support Enforcement Agency in Cleveland, records show.

Mary Denihan, spokeswoman for the county agency, said the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services contacted the agency today and requested an investigation of the access to Wurzelbacher's information. Cuyahoga County court records do not show any child-support cases involving Wurzelbacher.

The State Highway Patrol, which administers the Law Enforcement Automated Data System in Ohio, asked Toledo police to explain why it pulled BMV information on Wurzelbacher within 48 hours of the debate, Hunter said.

The LEADS system also can be used to check for warrants and criminal histories, but such checks would not be reflected on the records obtained by The Dispatch.

Sgt. Tim Campbell, a Toledo police spokesman, said he could not provide any information because the department only had learned of the State Highway Patrol inquiry today.
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Why do they have to pick on Joe, man?
 
ehh.. not sure about that. When I was in the military I had access to DMV access for all states. I'm sure it was some bored cop/dispatcher who was just curious about the guy. Thats my theory until more info comes up.
 
[quote name='homeland']ehh.. not sure about that. When I was in the military I had access to DMV access for all states. I'm sure it was some bored cop/dispatcher who was just curious about the guy. Thats my theory until more info comes up.[/QUOTE]

Still, it's illegal in every state I know of to access that information unless it's part of an official investigation. Democrats should be up in arms over this if they REALLY believe in privacy and that the government oversteps it's boundries in surveillance. If true, this is no different than the overseas "sexy phone call" interceptions, and someone needs to get 40 lashes and an ass-reaming.

But, because Joe is a republican, I guess all his personal privacy is fair game.
 
[quote name='bmulligan']Still, it's illegal in every state I know of to access that information unless it's part of an official investigation. Democrats should be up in arms over this if they REALLY believe in privacy and that the government oversteps it's boundries in surveillance. If true, this is no different than the overseas "sexy phone call" interceptions, and someone needs to get 40 lashes and an ass-reaming.

But, because Joe is a republican, I guess all his personal privacy is fair game.[/quote]

Up in arms?

As if Presidential campaigns haven't dived into the minutiae that is JTP enough?

Let law enforcement do their jobs - if this case officially gets dropped and there is a solid link to the Obama campaign then you'll have your little story.

In the meantime let's talk about issues that truly belong on the national stage, such as the legal status of Guantanamo detainees or the widespread tapping and exploitation of intimate calls between overseas American troops and their loved ones back home.
 
[quote name='bmulligan']Democrats should be up in arms over this if they REALLY believe in privacy and that the government oversteps it's boundries in surveillance.[/quote]
As an authorized representative of the Democratic party, including but not limited to every single person that has ever voted Democratic, registered Democratic, had Democratic thoughts, or even owned, come into contact with, or seen a donkey (real or imagined), I can say unequivocally that I am appalled at the complete lack of security measures taken to prevent individuals from accessing this kind of information.

We should block everyone from all records until resolution that satisfies bmulligan is reached.

You've never met a bored cop, dude. I knew military police that would look up everyone they could think of when they were bored at 3am on gate guard. Buy a clue.

edit:whistle2:--------------
[quote name='homeland']ehh.. not sure about that. When I was in the military I had access to DMV access for all states. I'm sure it was some bored cop/dispatcher who was just curious about the guy. Thats my theory until more info comes up.[/QUOTE]
Missed that my first go. Surprise, surprise, someone else knows this little secret :D
 
[quote name='speedracer']As an authorized representative of the Democratic party, including but not limited to every single person that has ever voted Democratic, registered Democratic, had Democratic thoughts, or even owned, come into contact with, or seen a donkey (real or imagined), I can say unequivocally that I am appalled at the complete lack of security measures taken to prevent individuals from accessing this kind of information.

We should block everyone from all records until resolution that satisfies bmulligan is reached.

You've never met a bored cop, dude. I knew military police that would look up everyone they could think of when they were bored at 3am on gate guard. Buy a clue.

edit:whistle2:--------------

Missed that my first go. Surprise, surprise, someone else knows this little secret :D[/QUOTE]

It's not a secret, obviously, and violators need to get bitchslapped to the point where it scares anyone else enough not to commit these types of privacy invasions. That's a terrific attitude you have there for law breakers: "Everybody does it, dude, get over it.- have a clue"
God help us if you're in the law enforcement profession, or any oher that requires a semblance of honor.
 
[quote name='bmulligan']It's not a secret, obviously, and violators need to get bitchslapped to the point where it scares anyone else enough not to commit these types of privacy invasions. That's a terrific attitude you have there for law breakers: "Everybody does it, dude, get over it.- have a clue"
God help us if you're in the law enforcement profession, or any oher that requires a semblance of honor.[/QUOTE]
I'm not in law enforcement. I'm in I.T. And that's why I'm saying your request is impossible. The size of logs you would need to maintain in order to determine exactly who has put in an info request on everyone everywhere all the time would be astonishingly massive. Hell, the entire system they use would have to be completely rebuilt from the ground up. Everyone. The cops' computers in every car, every desktop, everywhere. Every government computer, state, local, and national. Everywhere.

Are they wrong? Sure. I said it was crappy with a side bit to humor myself. But your request is absurd. By orders of magnitude out of the realm of reasonable.
 
How do we know that the people that looked the information were Democrats? I guess due process doesn't matter as long as it's a reason to bash the left, huh?
 
[quote name='depascal22']How do we know that the people that looked the information were Democrats? I guess due process doesn't matter as long as it's a reason to bash the left, huh?[/QUOTE]

Don't know who asked for it (and I would be surprised who it actually was) but we do know who gave the look a green light. It was Helen Jones-Kelly, director of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services who is a Democrat and a Obama supporter (she's given two contributions to his campaign, a max $2,300 and a $200).

How people are not pissed at this boggles the mind. Not only is it an attack at free speech (all he did was ask a question and a legit question to boot) but its also an attack to personal privacy.
 
http://www.wnwo.com/news/story.aspx?id=213580

Toledo Police have confirmed that a TPD records clerk is accused of performing an illegal search of information related to 'Joe the Plumber.'
Julie McConnell, has been charged with Gross Misconduct for allegedly making an improper inquiry into a state database in search of information pertaining to Samuel Wurzelbacher on Oct. 16.
Wurzelbacher came under the spotlight after being spoken about during the final presidential debate between Barack Obama and John McCain.
The inquiry into Wurzelbacher's record is a violation of department and state policy governing the use of the Law Enforcement Automated Data System. The clerk is under fire for making the inquiry for a non-law enforcement purpose.
McConnell was hired by the Toledo Police Department in April 1995 and assigned to the Investigative Services Bureau.
A discplinary hearing will be scheduled within the next ten days

------------------------------

No motive said but, looks like no conspiracy so far.
 
I still think it's funny Bmulligan got so up in arms over this. When compared to all the egregious social injustices being committed by the executive branch of our government, this ranks right down there with a bogus jaywalking ticket.

God forbid this cop had ever contributed to the Dem party, we'd never hear the end of it.
 
[quote name='fart_bubble']It was Helen Jones-Kelly, director of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services who is a Democrat and a Obama supporter (she's given two contributions to his campaign, a max $2,300 and a $200).[/QUOTE]

“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. “Our practice is to basically look at what is coming our way.”
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Not the best answer I've ever heard, not the worst.
 
So the Republican lead government has been digging through all our phone calls and emails since 9/11 and that's not an issue but now this is? It's an invasion of privacy and the person has been charged. Now unless we get a paper trail leading back to Obama OR his campaign, this ceases to be a story.
 
[quote name='fatherofcaitlyn']^We better just cancel the election. A Democrat broke the law. Obama is guilty by association.[/QUOTE]

But Ted Stevens was just convicted, which means a Republican also broke the law. I guess we have to cancel the election and start over from scratch since both parties are disqualified. The only problem is keeping the current bozo in the White House. How about we all agree on a two-month campaign with no (R)s and no (D)s? Sound good?
 
[quote name='fatherofcaitlyn']^We better just cancel the election. A Democrat broke the law. Obama is guilty by association.[/quote]

lol. surprised Palin hasn't attacked him cuz he's now a thief/hacker with l337 computer skillz !!!! (by association of course)
 
[quote name='camoor']I still think it's funny Bmulligan got so up in arms over this. When compared to all the egregious social injustices being committed by the executive branch of our government, this ranks right down there with a bogus jaywalking ticket.

God forbid this cop had ever contributed to the Dem party, we'd never hear the end of it.[/QUOTE]

You completely missed the point. People like you who cry about the transgressions of or "republican" administration against the people should be the ones up in arms if you have any moral consistency. Whenever a Republican is accused of this type of behavior it's an earth crumbling scandal. Because it's Joe the plumber, or today's favored Democrat whipping boy, you and those like you could give a shit about it and dismiss it as a non-story.

Of, course I know the virtual impossibility o absolute privacy when considering the scope and inherent failures of technology coupled with the virtual certainty of human vice. It's something I point out every time one of your kind want to make the government in charge of another aspect of our lives by making some new program.

The point was to highlight the Left's hypocrisy. The fact that right and wrong don't matter to them, only us versus them, means my point has been proven.
 
Let's make this clear. This was wrong. The person that committed the act has been charged. That person was charged so quickly, I thought it was a joke at first.

On the other hand, the republican bigwigs that have done the same thing (and much worse) have never been charged. They even made it legal through various executive memos and the Patriot Act. We're up in arms because those guys have and never will be brought to justice while this one act is blown up to the same proportions.

It's almost like they're saying we're all even stevens now. No one can bring up anything from the last seven years because of one over zealous Democrat.
 
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