Report Finds Republican Aides Spied on Democrats

[zimv20]

link (http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/05/politics/05LEAK.html?th=&pagewanted=print&position=)


For 18 months, at least two Republican Senate staff aides engaged in unauthorized and possibly illegal spying by reading Democratic strategy memorandums on a Senate computer system, according to a report released on Thursday by the Senate sergeant-at-arms.

The 65-page report concluded that the two Republican staff aides, both of whom have since departed, improperly read, downloaded and printed as many as 4,670 files concerning the Democrats' tactics in opposing many of President Bush's judicial nominees. The report, the result of an investigation undertaken at the request of the Senate Judiciary Committee, suggested that many other Republican staff aides may have been involved in trafficking in the stolen documents.

(more)

[numediaman]

This is old, old, old news. I started this thread back in January:
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=56828

This is like Watergate: first a couple of stories, then nothing. Then word that someone might get in trouble, then nothing. In the end, unless this gets put around Frist's or DeLay's neck, not much will come of it.

[Sayhey]

The story is old but the report is new. The Democrats are asking for an investigation on where the illegally gathered materials went. If that gets going we may have a very big story.

[mactastic]

...where the illegally gathered materials went.

Yeah there were a lot of top GOP operatives using this information to slam Dems over the course of several months. I find it hard to believe that the guy who stole it and the guy who distributed it were the only ones with any idea of where this stuff came from. I mean, if you see documents that you know your opposition wouldn't want you to be looking at, you have to suspect that they weren't just forwarded to your office. Other people had to know they were looking at purloined material and using it to hammer their opponents.

[zimv20]

The story is old but the report is new.

indeed. numediaman, that's why i didn't paste any more of the story -- it was mostly background stuff already covered.