11/18 Capitol Cops Open Probe Into Leak -- MORE Senate docs stolen!!

[grasswire]

http://www.thehill.com/news/111803/leak.aspx

A complaint filed by Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) with the Senate sergeant at arms caused the Capitol Police to confiscate computer records of the Senate Judiciary Committee after sealing off the room.

Durbin’s complaint to William Pickle, the sergeant at arms, focused on memos written by Durbin’s staff in late 2001 about the opposition of liberal groups to President Bush’s conservative nominees to the federal bench.

The memos were cited last Friday in an editorial that ran in The Wall Street Journal and in The Washington Times.

In a letter to Pickle, Durbin said that his office “did not release these documents, nor did we authorize their release to anyone. Other than the original paper copies of these memos which are locked away in a file cabinet in my staff’s Judiciary Committee offices, the only other copies are stored electronically on the Judiciary Committee’s computer server in an allegedly secure file area.

“Therefore, it appears that the documents in question were taken without authorization and possibly illegally. This constitutes a serious breach of security and calls into question the confidentiality of Senate internal documents in both electronic and hard copy form.”

Joe Shoemaker, Durbin’s spokesman, said the panel’s majority and minority staff, accompanied by Capitol Police, removed the backup files of the committee’s server. They also sealed the office where the server was located and moved a staffer who normally worked in the area.

(more at the link above)

[grasswire]

1. this is war

Perfidy!

Pugs are stealing documents probably from the LAN in the Senate.

Time for an ethics investigation, or something!

[salin]

2. what - did Ashcroft decide that the democrats on this committee's were

enemies of the state (the state = now known as bushfiefdom) - and applied the Patriot Act's "sneak and peek" provision?

[jamesinca]

3. Was it Hannity that was talking about this

They should have him subpoena, he would not be able to invoke his 5th amendment right in this case I don't think. Force him to tell who gave him the memo. Shake down the right wing for the law breaking POS that they are. No wonder they hate lawyers, they are the ones putting the right wing, self rightious on trial.

[grasswire]

4. Hannity is the one...

..who received the Rockefeller memo that was stolen from the intelligence committee.

This is a whole new theft.

The trouble is, the thugs probably copied the whole archives. They probably have every document ever produced by senate democrats.

[Occulus]

18. Fine. Then let them

prove they're the true traitors. If they use the stuff... the evidence will only mount and they'll quite effectively dig their very own, very deep, grave.

[Pompitous_Of_Love]

30. If this is true...

it simply goes to show how totally out-gunned Congressional Dems are. They are either unwilling or completely incapable of fending off the Rethug dirty tricksters. It's embarrasing. Come on, guys, put down the finger sandwiches and pick up a club!

[sendero]

31. LOL

That's about right.

One thing is for sure. If you have sensitive docs sitting on a server that is on the same network as the pukes, you are a FOOL if you think it is secure.

The naivete of these Dems is starting to get to me. Grow the eff up.

[HereSince1628]

34. I agree

It doesn't take much imagination to realize how risky that is.

[mourningdove92]

5. Oh yeah,

I am really sure this is going to be investigated. Just like the other leaks and the outting of a CIA operative. This is disgusting.

[Kool Kitty]

8. Oh, yeah-

remember that? The same thing will happen with this-nothing. Every day, there's one more thing that makes your head explode. This is one of the main reasons why I have the frightening feeling that no matter who the Democratic candidate is, we don't have a chance. Do you honestly believe that now that they have this much power, they would let it slip through their fingers?

[1971]

20. GOP + Diebold = Perpetual Reign

You're right Kool Kitty, why would they want to let it slip away when they could accomplish so much more by "somehow" maintaining control.

"Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely."

Is it possible to get local officials to require a voter verified paper ballot - however each county/city election can manage it - before the Democratic primaries and of course by Nov. 2004?

I know Bev Harris has issued a call to arms to get moving on something like that... see:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=725934

[Eloriel]

6. This is really serious

I'm aghast that anyone in the Senate would do this. Unbelievable.

Eloriel

[grasswire]

7. who vets the sysops and the lan administrators?

Surely Rove's people have infiltrated tech support, and pilfered the computer files. Democrats may have to set up their own system and use laptops. It may even be people disguised as janitors doing the burgling.

[htuttle]

33. Isn't freakin DynCorp in charge of that computer system?

They 'manage' most of the rest of the Fed's computer systems (ie., FBI, DoD, State, etc...). Wouldn't surprise me if they maintained the Senate's too.

Back when Pug Wynoker was on the stand about Enron, it was rumored that he had used confidential information gathered via DynCorp as leverage to get a walk for most of Enron's executives.

Far fetched? It may have seemed so at the time, but not so much anymore.

Here's a link:
Tracking "Pug" Winokur, wolf in the Enron fold
http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/CHI202B.html
(the article is reprinted from Online Journal. Google found it for me)

...
Although DynCorp touts itself as an "Internet technologies corporation," its work is nothing so benign. By contract, DynCorp manages the financial data and other electronic records for more than 30 U.S. government agencies, including the FBI, the State Department, the Department of Justice, the Defense Department, the Drug Enforcement Agency, the Bureau of Prisons, and the Office of National Drug Policy. The company is one of the few with access to PROMIS software, which gives its users access to worldwide banking records.

In addition to its intelligence database, DynCorp is also involved with asset forfeiture for various government agencies, including the Department of Justice.

In short, Winokur, through DynCorp, has the electronic goods on virtually everybody, and the means to shut down any agency, company or individual. Pug, in turn, enjoys J.Edgar Hoover-like powers to intimidate and destroy any political opponent, while looting the system in the process.
...

(on edit: found reprinted article at different source)

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

9. Starting to sound like Watergate more and more everyday

[Kool Kitty]

11. I think these guys make the Watergate operators

seem like rank amateurs. Kinda makes me miss Nixon. Not.

[TacticalPeek]

12. Reverb.

[jpgray]

22. Hell, much of the same crew is still there (nt)

[Fovea]

10. would someone please

teach these guys about PGP?

With appologies to Ms Coulter, THIS IS WHAT TREASON LOOKS LIKE!!!!!

[TacticalPeek]

13. Obviously 'trusted' insider, somewhere up the pwd scale.

I'd figure they'd finesse the backups, but a forensic hotshot can nail 'em, probably.

HeeHee.

[JackSwift]

14. Watergate all over again

an attempt to steal information. Same thing George Will did for Reagan in prepping Reagan for the 80 debates using Carter's stolen debate preparation books. They tried to frame Gore with this in 2000, but he wouldn't bite.

They seem to forget that these dirty tricks are felonies.

[AndyTiedye]

15. They Can Watergate All They Want Now

and there is nothing we can do about it.

[R Hickey]

24. I remember when they tried to frame Gore with that...

Their Debate-Gate operative was caught on Austin post-office video and everything, yet still Rove got everything quietly swept under the rug. And why not, they own the media.

[Norcom]

43. Debate tape

Ah, she was convicted in court for illegaly sending the tape. She was not a Rove operative.

[grasswire]

16. if you read this overnight...

....please kick it for the morning crew. Thanks.

[Occulus]

17. WHEEEeeeeee!!!!!

Letitbegin, letitbegin, letitbegin, letitbegin, letitbegin!

Ooohh, if this gets traced to *.....

"DATAGATE"

[truthisfreedom]

19. put the fear into the guy whose fingerprints are on this activity.

the fear. the real fear. the fear of being exposed, and connected with bushco.

the fear.

[Occulus]

21. LETTER TO my Senator

Good old Levin, regarding this issue:

Dear Senator Levin:

In light of the recent 'memo leak' that has taken place on Capitol Hill (ref: http://www.thehill.com/news/111803/leak.aspx), I'd like to encourage you and your like-minded colleagues to begin using PGP encryption when saving data that may be considered sensitive.

I'm sure you're aware of the existence of data encryption; I would only like to note that you and yours can use it as well. Secure forms of encryption, such as PGP, would make memo leaks tken from digital sources difficult or nearly impossible, and certainly a waste of time in any case.

(Aside, from the link above: "Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), the committee’s chairman, said there was 'no indication' that the memos in question were either stolen or pilfered." Well, if we're to believe Senator Durbin, the files in question were either locked away in a file cabinet or stored in a secure space on a server; both imply that the only way it could have been leaked was either an inside job or outright theft. It wouldn't surprise me to find that Rove et al have managed to snag all the data on the servers at some point; if in fact this memo was taken from the "secure" servers, that becomes an obvious conclusion. I also understand that this is not the first time this has happened recently- a leaked memo, I mean. But I digress.)

I hope you take my thoughts on this under advisement. I would hate to have someone get hold of, say, one of your staffer's laptops and swipe en masse all the data stored therein. Encryption very well could thwart such a theft.

Thank you *very* much for your time. I really do hope you consider using PGP.

Sincerely,

<<ME>>

I hope he listens. I've received personal responses, signed, on official Senate paper, regarding issues I've given him my comments on several times in the past. This guy really does listen to the people he represents. He definitely has my vote... unless he royally screws up ;)

[nadinbrzezinski]

26. mind if I use that to send to my whole delegation

?????

I know little about encryption but these boys need help

[Occulus]

41. Be free,

young one, be free :)

IOW, go right ahead.

[Sparky McGruff]

37. Use it against them -- make them take the bait!

Plant some memos that are too good to be true (from their end) on the secure servers. Then when they "magically appear" hold a press conference to reveal the "sting".

Make it a freaking media circus.

[Judi Lynn]

23. This is unforgiveable.

Hope to hear more about it today. Thanks for the post.

:kick:

[grasswire]

25. kick

And then to bed. It's the middle of the night!

[ozymandius]

27. The trouble with DC scandals is that it seems only Dems are victimized.

This makes me wonder if the whole process of victimization is being perpetrated by people, not necessarily grabbing the headlines, but people who spend their entire carreers in DC under the radar.

I suppose this could be a case for plausible deniability should principle members of the Republican heirarchy be implicated in this theft/treasonous dissemination of data.

[Blue Gardener]

28. Where is the Media?

Why is this crap not reported in the mainstream press??? It's unfortunate that most of the people in this country never even hear about all these shenanigans. These crooks should be in prison.

[Jazzgirl]

29. This needs to be on the front page of every paper today!

Just like the original story the repukes tried to use when they got the document. I wondered then how they got it. Did somebody fish it out of the trash? Would the Dems be stupid enough to leave it laying on their desk? This is totally outrageous!

Jazzgirl

[dusty64]

32. More crimes the

extreme right is likely to get away with. The law truly does NOT apply to them. What ever happened to "Traitorgate" anyway? I'm trying to compare the media coverage between it (an act of treason) and "travelgate", "whitewater", and a stained blue dress.

[Blue_Roses]

35. What the hell is going on here?

Somebody is getting comfortable with stealing and leaking. That's scarey, especially as the justice department looks the other way.

[underpants]

36. I'd say Durbin is turning it around on them

Very funny

[grasswire]

38. anyone see this anywhere else today?

please post if you have seen any news of this

[truthisfreedom]

39. here's a link to a 3 hour old story on this

http://www.illinoisleader.com/news/newsview.asp?c=9968

IL's Durbin calls in Capitol police

Tuesday, November 18, 2003
By The Leader-Chicago Bureau

WASHINGTON DC -- Yesterday, Illinois' downstate senior U.S. Senate Richard Durbin (D) initiated an investigation into how the Wall Street Journal and conservative national talk show host Sean Hannity obtained private office memos revealing the Democrats Judicial Committee strategy in keeping judges such as Miquel Estrada from being confirmed to the federal bench.


According to today's Wall Street Journal, Illinois' pleasant, down-to-earth, and congenial-at-home Senator Durbin called the Capitol Police to raid the Judicial Committee's computer room and confiscate the backup drives yesterday. The police were searching for evidence as to who it was that found the confidential memos and, Durbin hopes, find out who turned the memos over to the media.


The Durbin memos show who guides the senator's decision on which judicial nominees should be stopped and those who should be confirmed.


The WSJ editorialized on Friday:

. . . This plunge into the murky deep comes from staff strategy memos we've obtained from the days when Democrats ran the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2001-02. Or, rather, appeared to run the committee. Their real bosses are the liberal interest groups that more or less tell the Senators when to sit, speak and roll over--and which Bush judges to confirm or not.


From the WSJ's source, who is now being sought in earnest by the Capitol police at Durbin's beckoning...

<snip>

[underpants]

40. I can't believe that leak conscious FOX isn't all over this

Hard to believe.

[janx]

42. Memos ONLINE? Found this in freeperland...

http://fairjudiciary.campsol.com/cfj_contents/press/collusionmemos.shtml

[Norcom]

44. Is anyone concerned about the content of the memos?

Especially the memo regarding judicial nominees?

Can you imagine the outrage that would consume this entire board if a GOP memo had been found calling for delaying the nomination of a judge because he is "especially dangerous, because he has a minimal paper trail, he is Latino, and the White House seems to be grooming him for a Supreme Court appointment."

Imagine a GOP memo saying that. Of saying "he is black".

And then imagine if Trent Lott called a minority nominee a "neandrethal".

I am embarassed that our party is playing racial politics like this.

And anyone here who denys this, or says that they and the democratic party as a whole would not be fired up with anger and outrage over such comments and memos by the GOP is a two faced liar.

[Beetwasher]

46. Context Is Important

Too bad you don't post anything in context.

The Dems aren't playing racial politics. They are not blocking someone because they're Latino, they are pointing out that that's the reason the Repubs nominated him, because he would appeal to minorities. It's the Repubs playing the race card, thinking he would be easy appointment regardless of his qualifications just because he's Latino. Talk about twisting the facts...

[tom_paine]

45. The Buseviks do EVERYTHING the Nixonviks did AND MORE

Stealing memos is the LEAST of it, IMHO!

[kimchi]

47. Where is the media? Dirty tricks abound.

I'm so sick of the Dems rolling over and playing dead. Make a stink, guys, in UNISON!

[Rose Siding]

48. They're waiting for the GOP to tell them what to say

You know, just hanging around outside the WH or the Pentagon waiting for the press release.

[DebJ]

49. Didn't GW sign an Executive Order saying Repubs can steal anything

they want from Democrats??? Oops, that's right, it's the Patriot Act I'm sure.