October 8, 2008
Editorial: Investigate passport-file breaches
Dirty tricks? Say it ain't so. Better yet, prove it ain't
so. Right now, it's hard to believe that the three State Department employees caught snooping into Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's passport file were just gawkers. That's the administration's story. At least for now.
But Friday, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton revealed that her passport file had been rifled in 2007. And Republican nominee John McCain's file was accessed earlier this year. The Justice Department needs to investigate these breaches. The State Department's integrity is at stake. If the files of such high-profile people are fair game, how can anyone trust that their privacy will be respected?
The curious-employee scenario would be easier to believe if President George W. Bush had a more admirable history when it comes to snooping and politicizing government. But his laundry list of questionable activities is long.
The National Security Agency illegally wiretapped Americans' overseas phone calls and e-mail without warrants. The Justice Department abused national security letters to snoop into private phone records. And the White House stands accused of politicizing the Justice Department by firing U.S. attorneys who refused to mount politically motivated prosecutions against Democrats or to go easy on Republicans.
We've been down this road before. In 1992, during President George H.W. Bush's tenure, someone snooped in then-Democratic presidential candidate Bill Clinton's passport file. Has someone been rooting around in confidential files this political season in search of information to use against political rivals? The suspicion is inescapable.
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