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| Ohio agency head probed over alleged info hunt on 'Joe the Plumber' |
| 2008-11-08 |
| The head of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services has been placed on paid leave for allegedly approving a computer search for personal information about "Joe the Plumber." Helen Jones-Kelley, a Democrat, is being investigated over whether a state computer or state e-mail account was used to assist in political fundraising, Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland said in a statement. Strickland, also a Democrat, did not specifically mention Samuel Joe Wurzelbacher of Toledo, a.k.a. Joe the Plumber. Wurzelbacher told NewsMax he was "angered" by the background checks state officials ran after John McCain invoked his name in a presidential debate. "I'm just a private citizen ... That scares me just for the simple fact that other people might hesitate on questioning our elected officials and that worries me greatly for America," he said. "I'm not real happy about that at all." As for the election results, he said, "I'm disappointed, but the American people have spoken. They've gotten what they wanted. Now it's time to make sure that he goes to work for us. He's got a lot of work to do." Meanwhile, Wurzelbacher has paid his delinquent $1,200 tax bill and had the lien on his house lifted, the Associated Press reports. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #6 I 'spect the "probe" will end o/a 01.21.09... |
| Posted by: Uncle Phester 2008-11-08 12:33 |
| #5 Helen Jones-Kelley's been placed on paid leave. Tough job, but somebody has to do it. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2008-11-08 10:20 |
| #4 And what are we hearing form ACLU, DOJ and the FBI?.....Zzzzzzz Zzzzzzz Zzzzzzzz Privacy Act Violation of 1974(i)(1) Criminal penalties Any officer or employee of an agency, who by virtue of his employment or official position, has possession of, or access to, agency records which contain individually identifiable information the disclosure of which is prohibited by this section or by rules or regulations established thereunder, and who knowing that disclosure of the specific material is so prohibited, willfully discloses the material in any manner to any person or agency not entitled to receive it, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and fined not more than $5,000. (2) Any officer or employee of any agency who willfully maintains a system of records without meeting the notice requirements of subsection (e)(4) of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and fined not more than $5,000. (3) Any person who knowingly and willfully requests or obtains any record concerning an individual from an agency under false pretenses shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and fined not more than $5,000. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2008-11-08 07:59 |
| #3 Since Helen Jones-Kelley's name is now bandied about in the press, will the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services access her records (as part of the Dept.'s "policy") as they did for poor Joe? Yeah, I didn't think so. . . But I must say I'm surprised that Gov. Strickland even went this far. |
| Posted by: GORT 2008-11-08 07:33 |
| #2 In this case, I'd prefer they use a Roswell probe. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2008-11-08 07:09 |
| #1 Presidential pardon? |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2008-11-08 04:19 |