WP: GOP Aides Blamed for Leaking Documents

[kskiska]

Report: Thousands of Files Were Accessed

Friday, March 5, 2004; Page A01

A three-month investigation by the Senate's top law enforcement officer found a systematic downloading of thousands of Democratic computer files by Republican staffers over the past few years as well as serious flaws in the chamber's computer security system.

The report released yesterday by Senate Sergeant-at-Arms William H. Pickle noted that two former Senate GOP staff members -- including the Republicans' top aide on judicial nomination strategy -- were primarily responsible for accessing and leaking computer memos on Democratic plans for blocking some of President Bush's judicial nominations.

Pickle made no recommendations about whether to pursue criminal prosecutions in the case, but he cited several federal laws that might be considered, including statutes involving false statements and receipt of stolen property.

Pickle and his investigators said forensics analyses indicated that 4,670 files had been downloaded between November 2001 and spring 2003 by one of the aides -- "the majority of which appeared to be from folders belonging to Democratic staff" on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Chairman Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah) said at least 100 of his computer files were also accessed by the GOP aides.

The report identified the two former staffers as Jason Lundell, a nominations clerk who originally accessed the files, and Manuel Miranda, a more senior staff member and later the top aide to Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) on judicial nominations. Miranda, the report said, advised Lundell and was said by other aides to have been implicated in leaking the documents to friendly journalists or other parties outside the Senate. Miranda had previously denied leaking the materials.

more…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A31803-2004Mar4.html

[DBoon]

1. Kevin Mitnick

spent a lot of time in a federal prison for accessing computer systems without authorization. So should every republican involved in this crime.

[Trajan]

4. Wow ...

I sit here, thinking what would be happening if the conniving thieves were democrats ....

Oh, the humanity ! ...

[yellowcanine]

5. Prosecutors need to lean on these guys

and find out if any higher ups (Senators) knew about the stolen files. The threat of federal prison time may do the trick. I for one believe Rick Santorum was probably involved. I find it extremely hard to believe that some Republican senators did not know about these thefts which occured over such a long period of time. Any senator who was involved should be compelled to resign or be prosecuted.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

16. There is ZERO doubt that this info was disseminated beyond

two GOP aides. My guess would be at least a half dozen Senators and the WH.

[DBoon]

6. FYI

About a month ago I wrote to my senators (Feinstein and Boxer) suggesting just this course of action. This is a clear violation of the Computer Security Act of 1986 (amended many times) that makes it a federal offense for unauthorized access to a federal interest computer, and a felony if the damages (including stolen goods) are worth over $5,000.

THIS IS A FEDERAL FELONY!

[Rebellious Republican]

2. I have seen many posts concerning this, what no one seems to

be asking, who made the computers, who programmed the computers. Everyone seems to be looking at the burglars, but who created the security flaws. Were they campaign contributors to the GOP. Is the whole Tech industry controlled by the GOP, maybe black box voting is only scratching the surface? Questions just keep popping up in my mind. Hey Bev and Andy maybe you guys should dig a little deeper into this as well, is there a connection?

:kick:

[KT2000]

9. Agree - more BBV

I was struck by the term "security flaws."

[LiberalFighter]

21. What software was used on the computers?

Who was responsible for installing the software?

Where was the main access for administrative purposes?

[Rebellious Republican]

26. Exactly, LF, the questions keep going and going, I hope .....

someone in a better position then us are asking these same questions as well.
:wow:

[LiberalFighter]

28. Not necessarily

Sometimes they need to ask the right questions to know the right questions to ask.

[aquart]

3. And Sen. Frist had, of course, no knowledge?

Never knew a thing about it? All done while he was completely clueless?

Mr. Frist needs to do time.

[Stephanie]

11. I can't believe that it was going on that LONG

"over the past few years"!!!

They've been doing this since November 2001. After September 11, they felt they had impunity to do whatever they wanted.

I think a LOT of people had to know if they were doing it that long.

[jamesinca]

15. No, he did not know, that is why we had the ricin scare

I mean paper pulp scare. It seems that it was enough time to clean his computers of any incriminating evidence. I said it in a post when this first came out, they gave us a bone, a sacrificial lamb in Mr. Miranda. They did not turn over the crime boss Frist. They will not turn over Frist, they will come up with another ricin or paper pulp scare before they do that. It sounds like I am paranoid, but I have no reason to believe anything else having seen their history.

[Bandit]

20. If he did not know the activities of his staff he is inept and derelict

Still reason for him to go.

[kskiska]

7. More details from Moonie Times:

(snip)

…About 100 of those documents belonged to Judiciary Committee Chairman Orrin G. Hatch, Utah Republican.

(snip)

"The clerk who initially discovered how to access the files told investigators that he was not sure what to look for in the files, so Mr. Miranda would guide him as to what information was helpful," the report says. "Mr. Miranda would often suggest which directories he should concentrate on and would sometimes tell him that there was something new in a particular folder and ask the clerk to print it for him." Mr. Hatch said Mr. Lundell "seemed to be very much under the influence of" Mr. Miranda.

Investigators said: "Mr. Miranda was thought of by his peers as having 'a mole' on the other side and would smile when he was asked how he knew what appeared to be insider Democratic information."

(snip)

Even as the report was being photocopied for distribution to reporters yesterday, Mr. Miranda revealed two previously undiscovered Democratic documents showing that Democratic staffers on the Judiciary Committee in 2001 inadvertently received an internal Republican e-mail that they leaked to the press.

After the report's release, Mr. Miranda issued a press release calling the report "a big snore," saying it "merely colors in what we volunteered over three months ago."

more…
http://www.washtimes.com/national/20040304-114607-8196r.htm

[Lindsay]

8. Mr. Miranda is a smug little jerk.

I hope he does some serious time...he's earned it.

[LiberalFighter]

22. I rather something more drastic happen!!

[LiberalFighter]

23. In regards to Hatch's documents...

Were those documents downloaded with his permission or was it decided to do that after being exposed with the intent to deceive others into believing that they were hacked too?

I also wonder what documents were downloaded.

[Stephanie]

10. Slightly OT, but in other Bush leaking scandals today:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x1196551

One of the memos subpoeaned in the Plame case has been discovered on the web by a DUer.

[Judi Lynn]

12. You won't want to believe this!

Went to google to check on Manuel Miranda, the first staff member named, and the VERY FIRST ENTRY was this item from FreeRepublic you will have to see to believe, which claims to have a video of Miranda in an interview with Cal Thomas, and a quick glance at the page indicates that Miranda has some kind of CELEBRITY STATUS with those people.

You may need to take a barf bag with you to look it over:
http://209.157.64.200/focus/f-news/1083265/posts

Oh, good:
You can get to the Cal Thomas video on him here, without going through FreeRepublic:
http://www.koalaproducts.net/mirandainterview.html
You will NOT believe this, but he's named the "GOP Whistleblower" in the Cal Thomas piece, and they are treating him as a hero! Takes all kinds, doesn't it?


On edit:
During his interview, he's blinking wildly, like a doggie expecting his master to swat him with a newspaper any minute! You can tell he's guilty, knows it, and is trying to create a feasable excuse for himself.

[bushwakker]

13. White House council's office involvement?

Josh Marshall at TPM has written some good stuff indicating likely some involvement of the WH.

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/

[Judi Lynn]

14. AP article on this subject adds info. on Lundell

(snip) Lundell was able to get into the Democratic computer in 2001 because the folders were not well-protected, the report said. He learned how to get access by watching a system administrator work on his computer, the report said.

Lundell printed out more than 100 documents dealing with the nomination battle over Mississippi judge Charles Pickering, and searched Democratic files almost daily as he worked on the nomination of Texas judge Priscilla Owen, the report said. Both were being blocked by Senate Democrats.
(snip/...)

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2004/03/05/national0421EST0452.DTL

[priller]

18. "folders were not well-protected" -- but the *WERE* protected

Miranda has been claiming that the files were just sitting there, begging to be snooped. But these reports show that wasn't the case. They had to specifically get past the (admittedly weak) protection that was there. They were STEALING, plain and simple.

[renegade000]

25. based on their logic

every single student in the country is entitled to cheat on exams if they are able to see his or her neighbor's paper.

good ol' values eh?

[Cat Atomic]

17. Remember that memo Sean Hannity was screaming about

a few months ago? He kept claiming it proved that the Democrats wanted to turn the 9-11 investigation into a political football, and he held up some Democratic memo as proof (even though it proved no such thing).

Do you suppose that memo got out through this channel? I would be very interested to know how something makes its way from a low level GOP aid to a nationally syndicated radio shill so quickly.

[LiberalFighter]

24. Wouldn't he be criminally liable also?

[yellowcanine]

19. This is actually bigger than Watergate

Much more theft involved - and potential effects much more devastating.
The only difference between this and Watergate in terms of wrongdoing is that a computer was used instead of black bag burglary techniques. Watergate went way beyond a burglary of course - it was the cover up involving the Whitehouse and Nixon that made it a huge scandal. Does anyone think there wasn't a cover up here? For several years somebody has been receiving confidential Democratic documents. Who? Republican senators? The Attorney General's office (they manage the judicial nomination process so would make sense) The Whitehouse? Rove? Ashcroft? Bush?

[leesa]

27. Ah yes, those pesky aides...Republicans are so known for their

ability to act independently. Will they go to jail for their masters?