Wow. This could be big, though it may get overshadowed with so much else going on:
Republican staff members of the US Senate Judiciary Commitee infiltrated opposition computer files for a year, monitoring secret strategy memos and periodically passing on copies to the media, Senate officials told The Globe.
From the spring of 2002 until at least April 2003, members of the GOP committee staff exploited a computer glitch that allowed them to access restricted Democratic communications without a password. Trolling through hundreds of memos, they were able to read talking points and accounts of private meetings discussing which judicial nominees Democrats would fight — and with what tactics.
Sleazy. And possibly illegal and/or a violation of Senate rules:
Whether the memos are ultimately deemed to be official business will be a central issue in any criminal case that could result. Unauthorized access of such material could be punishable by up to a year in prison — or, at the least, sanction under a Senate non-disclosure rule.
Three thoughts:
1. I can’t read any article about Congress these days without thinking of Yeats’ line: “The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity.” I don’t know what is to be done about, but Republicans and Democrats both deserve better Congressional leaders than they’ve got.
2. This article is a textbook case of When Bad Headlines Happen to Good Stories, endemic at the NY Times and the Globe. “Infiltration of Files Seen as Extensive”? Come on.
3. And finally, on the Generalissimo-Francisco-Franco-is-Still-Dead front, Bob Novak is a d*ck:
“Novak declined to confirm or deny whether his column was based on these files.
“They’re welcome to think anything they want,” he said. “As has been demonstrated, I don’t reveal my sources.”
A quick comment and question before Timmy sneaks over here to suggest it’s no big deal.
When in doubt, point the finger at Bob Novak.
What laws were actually broken by the devious Repub staff perps?
Katherine, those tactics wouldn’t cover Estrada or the smearing of Pickering would they.
Speaking of Pickering Powerline has a nice a nice retort on the smearing of Pickering. A highlight
So the claim that Judge Pickering has a “segregationist past” is mere slander. One final point bears mentioning: Judge Pickering sent his children to integrated public schools. Can someone please explain why a “segregationist” would do that? And can anyone name a Democratic Presidential candidate who has done the same?
Now how many nothern liberals sent their children to integrated public schools.
Given the overall circumstances, the verb infiltrate is just a tad harsh wouldn’t you say. But I hope the overall story plays out.
Harley, I never sneak on over, I brought my brass band.
The computer glitch dates to 2001, when Democrats took control of the Senate after the defection from the GOP of Senator Jim Jeffords, Independent of Vermont.
A technician hired by the new judiciary chairman, Patrick Leahy, Democrat of Vermont, apparently made a mistake that allowed anyone to access newly created accounts on a Judiciary Committee server shared by both parties — even though the accounts were supposed to restrict access only to those with the right password.
I blame Jeffords. :]
Really…sysadmins left sensitive Democrat docs unprotected for nearly three years? I find this very difficult to believe.
Would this be the “computer glitch” in which the Democratic staffers put their strategy memos on a shared drive that was accesable to other people?
I seem to recall a few years ago, Democratic staffer complaining that Republicans had access to a strategy folder . . which was found in a liquor store.
Hmmm…liquor store…Teddy Kennedy, again?
“Note how many northern liberals sent their kids to integrated public schools.”
How many of them set their kids to segregated schools? No, seriously. How many did?
And does Pickering’s ennobling use of public schools cancel out his feverish support of cross-burners?
Actually it looks like Judge Pickering’s problem is with mandatory minimum sentences as he has intervened before when he thought the sentence unjust.
Regarding the cheap shot about cross-burners, it should be pointed out that it was the decision of the Clinton Justice Department to let the ring-leader – who had a history of violence against the victims – off with a misdemeanor.
Ultimately they decided to drop the arson charge against the driver and Pickering applied the sentence per the law.
Timmy calls this a highlight:
Judge Pickering sent his children to integrated public schools. Can someone please explain why a “segregationist” would do that?
1. My God, is that best defense they can come up with? Did they mention that some of his friends are black, too?
2. Instead of switching the subject, can right-wingers admit that stealing Democratic files wrong?
Business has been focused on the whys and wherefores of “corporate intelligence” for the better part of a decade. Both the peeking on the one hand and the sloppiness in protecting sensitive information on the other is in line with what I expect from our esteemed elected officials these days. I’ll leave everyone to imagine that opinion, because at this moment, I’m unable to write it without violating the blog’s posting rules on obscenity. 🙂
Timmy, I dig the band. Can they play “Louie, Louie?”
Harley writes:
What laws were actually broken by the devious Repub staff perps?
You mean, other than the law against taking stuff that belongs to someone else?
They took something that belongs to someone else? Does that mean the Democrats no longer had it?
Hence the discussion of legality. I’d take the fact that no one has yet been brought up on criminal charges as an indication of the lack of clarity that the law has been broken.
BTW, don’t look at my last comment. If you do, I’ll have to have you arrested.
Instead of switching the subject, can right-wingers admit that stealing Democratic files wrong?
Sure. Taking things that ain’t yours is wrong. Period. Regardless of who the Takers and Takees are.
But I’d let the story play a little bit, before excessive Harley-esque exuberance sets in. (Read, PLAME AFFAIR)
Oberon, an ethical dilema, you find someone is pursuing an action which you find is morally reprehensible you have three options.
a. do something to out the culprits, despite the implication that it is wrong..
b. do nothing, as two wrongs don’t make a right
c. plan your own smear campaign.
Apparently Oberon you didn’t read Powerline. And if all of Pickerings fellow Missisipians had done the same thing, Ol Miss would be a better place.
Munster
How many of them set their kids to segregated schools? No, seriously. How many did?
If you are a politician living in DC, most of them (from both political parties).
Can they play “Louie, Louie?”? Absolutely Matt in single and double time. 🙂
Apparently Oberon you didn’t read Powerline.
Guilty as charged. Your quote was just too juicy to pass up.
I just read the Powerline post. Powerline argues that it’s incorrect to say that Pickering has a “segegrationist past”. So Powerline responds to “an anti-Pickering petition by a group of historians who are a disgrace to their profession, [which] does purport to offer such evidence.”
So I read the petition and I read Powerline. The petition mostly accused Pickering of evasions under oath and hostility to civil rights laws.
Between a petition from 80 mostly-southern experts on history and African-Americans, from schools like Duke and UNC, on the one hand, and a post from Powerline on the other, I found the former a tad more credible.
(Plus Pickering was a white political leader in Misssippi at a time when you either favored racial integration or you opposed. Does anyone really believe he doesn’t have a segregationist past? Please.)
Mr. Davy:
Agreed. In the scheme of things, it’s a very minor story, important only to partisans as yet more proof of the other side’s moral inconsistency.
Which is what makes it so fun.
I still don’t see the wrongdoing. Other than the “no fair” aspect, I mean. That doesn’t mean that there was no wrongdoing, just that, from the information I’ve seen, Democrats failed to protect their documents, and Republicans read them. Is there some moral principle you think has been violated, Oberon?
Plus Pickering was a white political leader in Misssippi at a time when you either favored racial integration or you opposed.
So, in other words, he belonged to the set of all people in Mississippi. Is there a point, here?
Slarty:
I think that reading someone else’s private memoranda is clearly unethical.
For authority, I cite President What’s-His-Name on 24, who rejected the opportunity to find out his opponent’s big debate surprise.
As for Pickering, my points was in the next sentence — that he almost certainly had a segregationist past. I don’t think that it’s necessarily a big deal; many of the segregationists later changed their minds, and, in the world of 24, we now have a black president. But he probably was a segregationist 40 years back.
Does anyone really believe he doesn’t have a segregationist past?
Segregationist don’t tend to send their children to integrated public schools. BTA, neither do liberals. Oberon, I can see why you maybe confused. 🙂
That’s okay, I’m always confused.
Pardon my ignorance, what does “BTA” mean?
“Democrats failed to protect their documents, and Republicans read them”
Recent tech law makes it very clear that insufficient protection is not a justification for trespass. Of course there are a ton of details that affect whether it was actually a crime. . were the files on a machine owned by the Democratic staffers, was there cause for a reasonable belief on the part of the Repubs that they should not be able to access those files, are government files copywrited, and so on.
But regardless of the legality, it’s pretty underhanded to read someone else’s mail and use it to feed a hitman like Novak.
BTA == But then again…
netlingo
For authority, I cite President What’s-His-Name on 24, who rejected the opportunity to find out his opponent’s big debate surprise.
Purely snark (albeit goodnatured) but how come youse guys can’t seem to tell the fictional characters from the real ones? First, West WIng, now 24. What next?