Passport-gate: Officially Over (UPDATE: Or Not?)

Since this Obama passport thing broke, I've been trying to figure out what's in a passport file and why that information would be useful. It would, I assume, have dates and places visited, and maybe if the passport holder checked in at embassies in various countries. But what else? When Bill Clinton's passport file was violated in 1991, the spin put out from the RNC was that they were looking for a letter Clinton wrote to a US Embassy abroad asking to renounce his citizenship. Only that wasn't true, and it wasn't in the file.

UPDATE: My assumption was not so hot. Computerworld has a primer:

What exactly is a passport record? A passport record typically consists of applications made by a person for a U.S. passport, together with supporting evidence of U.S. citizenship. The records include details such as date and place of birth, naturalization details, family status, occupation and physical characteristics. Passport records do not include evidence of travel, such as exit and entrance stamps, visas or residence permits. Passport records are protected by the Privacy Act of 1974 [...]

What else is in the system? In addition to passport applications and the related material, the system stores investigative reports that might have been compiled in connection with granting or denying a passport, or in connection with any violation of passport criminal statutes. It also stores court documents and administrative determinations related to passports and citizenship, as well as copies of birth and baptismal certificates, medical, personal and financial reports and details on arrest warrants of the person applying for, extending or renewing a passport and a person's Social Security number.

OK, so there's some stuff in there that's pretty noteworthy. It's not in every file, however; the investigative reports aren't necessary made in every case. The Social Security number is in that file, and certainly that could be used for all sorts of mischief, like obtaining personal financial records and the like. But you could pretty easily determine if those records were obtained, and I'm hoping that the appropriate authorities are doing so.

So now that we've seen that Hillary Clinton's file was breached as well, and that MSNBC is reporting the same about John McCain, this really feels to me like a bunch of cube rats in the State Department snooping around on their lunch breaks, doing some info-snacking. It's against the law, and their names should be released and the investigation should be held outside the State Department's Inspector General, especially considering that there is no State Department Inspector General at the moment, but I'm not seeing the advantage you could gain here. There's a ridiculous diary on Daily Kos intimating that the Clinton campaign had something to do with this, a fact-free "guilt by association" piece of tripe that really is sad, and as we've learned, foreign travel ISN'T EVEN IN A PASSPORT FILE. The level of critical inquiry in this campaign season is well and truly in the toilet.

I think this story is more telling about how much personal information the government has on you and how unsecure it all is. Which comes at precisely the time when the Bushes want the ability to wiretap on Americans without a warrant. This should spark total outrage with the national surveillance state.

UPDATE: The fact that one of the guys who looked at Obama's information also looked at McCain's leaves open the possibility that someone is selling information of political candidates. There's enough information in that file that would be of interest to oppo researchers. This could be an inside job to funnel info to a shop that digs up all sorts of dirt.