Saturday, October 25, 2008

Investigations Started Into Whether Government Computers Were Used To Dig Dirt On Joe The Plumber

(Cartoon compliments of Americans for Limited Government)


Within days of Wurzelbacher aka Joe The Plumber hitting the national stage after Barack Obama came to his neighborhood and he asked Obama about his tax plan, to which Obama said the words heard around the world now about "spreading the wealth" aka wealth redistribution, information started coming out about Joe Wurzelbacher and now there are investigations into whether Government computers were used to dig up dirt on Joe, according to the Columbus Dispatch.

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.


If it is found during the investigation that the information was accessed illegally, it is a criminal offense:

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.


Also being investigated is information pulled from the Cuyahoga County Child Support Enforcement Agency, even though there is no "child-support cases involving Wurzelbacher," and the State Highway Patrol is asking why the Toledo police pulled information on Wurzelbacher within 48 hours after the third presidential debate where Wurzelbacher, his question to Obama and Obama's answer was spoken about, at length.

It is a real pity that an everyday "Joe" cannot ask a presidential candidate that came to his own driveway, a question about policy without having his life turned into national fodder, instead of the candidate's answer being the issue in the spotlight.

A real shame.


All previous WUA pieces about Joe "The Plumber" Wurzelbacher found here.

.