DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - Nine people were indicted Wednesday on federal charges of accessing President Barack Obama's student loan records while they were employed for a Department of Education contractor in Iowa.
The U.S. attorney's office said a grand jury returned the indictments in U.S. District Court in Davenport.
All nine are charged with exceeding authorized computer access. They are accused of gaining access to a computer at a Coralville office where they worked between July 2007 and March 2009, and accessing Obama's student loan records while he was either a candidate for president, president-elect or president.
U.S. attorney spokesman Mike Bladel referred questions to online copies of the indictments.
Each of eight indictments posted by Wednesday night were brief, saying the charged individual "intentionally exceeded authorized access to a computer and thereby obtained information from a department and agency of the United States" and "intentionally accessed student loan records" of Obama without authorization.
Those charged are Andrew J. Lage, 54, Patrick E. Roan, 51, Sandra Teague, 54 and Mercedes Costoyas, 53, all of Iowa City; Gary N. Grenell, 58, and Lisa Torney, 49, of Coralville; Anna C. Rhodes, 32, of Ainsworth; Julie L. Kline, 38, of West Branch; and John P. Phommivong, 29, for whom no hometown was listed.
Lage told The Associated Press on Wednesday evening he did not know about the indictment and declined comment. Messages were left for Teague, Torney and Costoyas. A telephone listing for Kline rang unanswered and a listing for Rhodes was disconnected. No telephone numbers were immediately found for Phommivong, Roan or Grenell.
Six of them are accused of accessing Obama's records when he was a candidate, according to the indictments online. One is accused of accessing the records when he was president-elect. An indictment for the ninth defendant was not immediately available online.
Court records did not name the contractor that employed the defendants.
Arraignments are scheduled for May 24. The charge is punishable by up to one year in prison and a fine of up to $100,000. Didn't know if this should be posted under 'terror networks.' I went with 'Lurid Crime Tales.' This might get very interesting.
#2
Something Obama doesn't want us to see/know about,
Probably either unpaid, or the name of the payee isn't him.
It would tickle the shit out of me if the payee was an islamic Imam.
It would also get him Impeached, so we sheeple mustn't know.
This requires further investigation as to WHAT he's hiding, You know, like the Birth certificate we can't see.
Maybe the name's different?
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
05/13/2010 15:10 Comments ||
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#3
I really don't care and we don't need to know about his student loan records. Its was wrong when they did it to Bush and it is wrong to do this to Obama.
The White House press office is behaving more and more like an independent media outlet, bypassing traditional news avenues in favor of releasing its own "exclusive" video, voicing administration opinions on its official blog and blasting out updates via Twitter.
The trend has raised questions among the press corps about whether the administration is looking to just tap its own resources to make major announcements. President Obama leans more on internal media as he continues to criticize the "24/7" media environment -- singling out cable news, radio and blogs for occasional lectures -- and appears to be abandoning the prime-time press conference forum he used to discuss major developments during his first few months in office.
"They're doing a very adept job of using new media in the White House," said Pete Snyder, CEO of New Media Strategies. "Whether it's from the constant updates of information at the White House website to ... bypassing the mainstream news media in answering questions and thoughts via Twitter to their use of the photo-sharing site Flickr, really to show the softer side, the more human side, of the administration."
But the White House says the office is just trying to get information out as directly and efficiently as possible.
Press Secretary Robert Gibbs used his new Twitter account on Tuesday to distribute an Associated Press article reporting the Minerals Management Service would be split into two agencies -- and seemingly confirm the news at the same time. He used the same account to break the news in March that Obama would be delaying his trip to Indonesia and Australia to work on the health care bill. Asked how heavily his Twitter account would factor into the news cycle, Gibbs bemoaned technical difficulties with his White House e-mail account and said: "I would say Twitter is a quick medium to get information out and we'll probably use it more often."
The technologically adroit administration has gone far beyond Twitter in promoting its activities and establishing its own self-sufficient media arm. The administration started its roll-out of Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan with an internally produced video and interview posted to the White House blog. Bereft of hard questions, the video showed Kagan talking about her parents and growing up in New York City. She said in the video that she hopes people will see that she is open-minded, fair, has good judgment and "will faithfully apply the law."
MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell on Wednesday suggested on air that the White House was "crossing a number of lines here."
Asked on Tuesday whether the rest of the press might get a crack at a one-on-one interview with the nominee, Gibbs replied: "She's not told me that, no."
The White House even labeled its content as "exclusive footage" when it posted video of first lady Michelle Obama visiting Haiti to survey the earthquake damage last month. The documentary-style video showed footage of the first lady flying over the devastation and scenes from the ground and included a voiceover by Obama.
Meanwhile, Obama has not held a full-blown solo press conference since last July, when he convened the press corps at the White House to discuss health care.
He held a joint press conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Wednesday at which two questions from the U.S. press and two questions from the Afghan press were allowed. He also came to the back of Air Force One last month to talk to the media, and he made an appearance at the daily White House briefing in February.
Earlier this month Gibbs ridiculed a reporter who complained that none of those constitute a traditional press conference. Gibbs noted that Obama took eight questions at the Nuclear Security Summit on April13.
Asked earlier in the year about the press conference drop-off, Gibbs complained that Obama had previously been accused of being "overexposed." From Obama's point of view, the 24/7 news cycle results in the MSM interpreting, analyzing, and criticizing WH press releases, instead of just publishing them verbatim, like Pravda or Izvestia used to do. He does not like this one bit, and wants a direct doublespeak line to the public.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
05/13/2010 18:38 Comments ||
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#2
Is the MSM having "buyers remorse" over this spaying of them? Is the MSM's slobbering, fawning, and worship over with yet? Are they going to start acting like they deserve the 1st Amendment freedoms which they have given up so easily?
#1
"I've just expressed concerns on the basis of what I've heard about the law. But I'm not in a position to say at this point, not having read the law, not having had the chance to interact with people are doing the review, exactly what my position is," Mr. Holder told the House Judiciary Committee.
Then why didn't you keep your big mouth shut until you read the bill? Because you most certainly did say, Mr. Attorney General. What an idiot!
This weekend Mr. Holder told NBC's "Meet the Press" program that the Arizona law "has the possibility of leading to racial profiling." He had earlier called the law's passage "unfortunate," and questioned whether the law was unconstitutional because it tried to assume powers that may be reserved for the federal government.
Well then maybe you should shut your piehole and do your damn job. Which is enforcing Federal Law in case you don't remember. You do know what the Attorney General's job is don't you? And, no, its not to cover up for Obama's lies.
#2
I liked the note that it was 10 pages, a lot less than the Obamacare Obamanation bill, which nobody else read either. Holder is a racist incompetent with pro-Islam views (See: New Black Panthers. see: Radical Islam - can't speak the words) and should be run out of the office.
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/13/2010 20:13 Comments ||
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#3
"Arizona acted stupidly"
sound like anyone we know?
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/13/2010 20:14 Comments ||
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#4
Arizona is upholding the federal law. How's Holder going to uphold the law if he doesn't know what it is?
#8
It's actually about 15 pages - I've read the thing - essentially tells the state to do what the fed gubmint has supposed to been doing for the past 40 yrs...
In a movie version of this important story of our time, the bold, undaunted officeholder would look much like the boyish, handsome David Cameron Great Britain's new Conservative prime minister who called on his countrymen Tuesday to embrace an age of austerity.'
But this is America. So the fearless leader willing to be honest with voters, to part with what cannot be paid for, is actually not dashing, nor is he eloquent. He is an overweight Bruce Springsteen devotee, a former prosecutor with a remaining trace of a Turnpike accent who is intent on rescuing New Jersey. If he succeeds, Gov. Chris Christie (R-N.J.) could become a major political force in the years to come, whether he likes it or not.
As the United States watches a debt crisis in Greece like a fiscal oil spill, waiting to see where it will spread first and when it will make landfall on our shores, Christie is tackling the nation's worst state deficit $10.7 billion of a $29.3 billion budget. In doing so, Christie has become the politician so many Americans crave, one willing to lose his job. Indeed, Christie is doing something unheard of: governing as a Republican in a blue state, just as he campaigned, making good on promises, acting like his last election is behind him.
Upon taking office Christie declared a state of emergency, signing an executive order that froze spending, and then, in eight weeks, cutting $13 billion in spending. In March he presented to the Legislature his first budget, which cuts 9 percent of spending, including more than $800 million in education funding; seeks to privatize numerous government functions; projects 1,300 layoffs; and caps tax increases.
Teachers unions are incensed, fighting Christie's proposal that in order to avoid cuts to education teachers accept a one-year wage freeze and contribute 1.5 percent to the generous-by-every-standard healthcare plans they now enjoy for free. New Jersey, which has the highest unemployment in the region and highest taxes in the country, lost 121,000 jobs in the private sector in 2009 while adding 11,300 new education jobs. During the last eight years, K-12 enrollment rose just 3 percent while education jobs increased more than 16 percent. According to the Newark Star-Ledger, during the recession that has cost many residents their homes and jobs and scaled back hours and pay for the employed, teachers' salaries rose by nearly 5 percent, double the rate of inflation.
Christie is adamant about lowering taxes. After taxes were raised 115 times in the last eight years, he said the wealthy are tapped out. Property taxes rose nearly 70 percent in the last decade, and studies show top earners the 1 percent of taxpayers paying 40 percent of income tax are fleeing the Garden State.
The goal is not just to crawl out of crisis but ultimately to lead, said Christie in his budget address. If we make the tough decisions now, we will be one year ahead of 80 percent of the states in the race to economic growth. If we fail to act, we will fall even further behind ... by going first, we can become first.'
Can Christie succeed? We will find out on June 30, when the Legislature must pass a budget . But no matter the political price, Christie is determined. You just have to stand and grit your teeth and know your poll numbers are going to go down and mine have but you gotta grit through it because the alternative is unacceptable,' he told The Wall Street Journal.
The alternative is unacceptable words a growing majority of Americans desperately want to hear from their elected officials.
#1
You can hear him clacking 200 yards away. Brass ones, he's got em.
Posted by: No I am the other Beldar ||
05/13/2010 17:19 Comments ||
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#2
Anybody else remember "ClackerBalls" a 60's fad?
two celluloid balls on a string you could (With Practice) whack togrther by rapidly bouncing th string up and down.
Your statement about "Hear them 200 Yards away rekindled a memory of those two Balls.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
05/13/2010 22:42 Comments ||
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Republicans have solidified support among voters who had drifted from the party in recent elections, putting the GOP in position for a strong comeback in November's mid-term campaign, according to a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll.
The findings suggest that public opinion has hardened in advance of the 2010 elections, making it tougher for Democrats to translate their legislative successes, or a tentatively improving U.S. economy, into gains among voters.
Republicans have reassembled their coalition by reconnecting with independents, seniors, blue-collar voters, suburban women and small town and rural votersall of whom had moved away from the party in the 2006 elections, in which Republicans lost control of the House. Those voter groups now favor GOP control of Congress.
"This data is what it looks like when Republicans assemble what for them is a winning coalition," said GOP pollster Bill McInturff, who conducts the survey with Democratic pollster Peter Hart.
He said the Republican alliance appeared to be "firmer and more substantial" than earlier in the year.
Mr. Hart noted that, to his own party's detriment, a series of major news events and legislative achievementsincluding passage of a sweeping health-care law, negotiating a nuclear disarmament treaty with Russia and making a quick arrest in the Times Square terrorism attempthas not measurably increased support for Democrats. "A lot has happened," he said, "but the basic dynamic of the 2010 elections seems almost set in concrete."
A big shift is evident among independents, who at this point in the 2006 campaign favored Democratic control of Congress rather than Republican control, 40% to 24%. In this poll, independents favored the GOP, 38% to 30%.
Suburban women favored Democratic control four years ago by a 24-point margin. In the latest survey, they narrowly favored Republicans winning the House. A similar turnaround was seen among voters 65 and older.
"This is the inverse of where we were four years ago, and in a way that projects to substantial Democratic losses in November," Mr. McInturff said.
The new survey gives incumbents of either party little reason for comfort. Only about one in five respondents approved of the job Congress is doing.
People in the survey felt overwhelmingly negative toward both political parties
Nearly one-third of respondents said they "almost never" trust the government in Washington to do what is rightabout triple the number who felt that way when the question was asked in October.
Those feelings were evident in the past week, with the ouster of longtime incumbents from each party. After 18 years in office, Sen. Robert Bennett (R, Utah) was rejected for re-nomination at Saturday's Utah GOP convention.
On Tuesday, Rep. Alan Mollohan (D, W.Va.) lost his primary election by a surprisingly large 56% to 44% margin. He had served 14 terms in the House.
"It is a tough year for incumbents, no doubt about that," said Sen. Arlen Specter (D, Pa.).
Mr. Specter didn't express great confidence that he would prevail Tuesday in his own primary contest, in which polls show him neck-and-neck with Democratic U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak.
"I don't make predictions; I run for re-election," Mr. Specter said. "I've been in a lot of tough races, and I'm slugging it out."
While the survey results foreshadow a strong showing for Republicans, they also show that voters were far more motivated by their frustration with Democrats and government in general than by an affinity for the GOP.
Just 30% in the survey said they felt positively about the Republican Partya smaller share than for the Democratic Party and the tea party movement.
Of those who want to see Republicans control the House, less than one-third said that was because they support the GOP and its candidates.
Rather, nearly two-thirds said they were motivated by opposition to Mr. Obama and Democratic policies.
"Republicans ran us under financially, and the Democrats are worse," said poll respondent William Lina, 80, of Alden, N.Y., who is a registered Democrat but plans to vote a straight Republican ticket in November.
He cited frustration with the Democrats' health-care overhaul and the economic stimulus program.
Joe Carter, a 53-year-old Republican from Kingsport, Tenn., who has voted for Democrats in the past, said he, too, would likely vote a straight Republican ticket.
"Both parties do things I disagree with," Mr. Carter said. "But just to stop what's going on now, I will vote Republican."
Overall, the survey found that voters were split over which party they preferred to control Congress after November, with 44% favoring each party.
But that finding masked the overwhelming Republican advantage among the voters most likely to cast ballots on Election Day.
The voters who said they were most interested in the November elections favor Republican control of Congress by a 20-point margin, with 56% backing the GOP and 36% backing Democratsthe highest gap all year on that question.
Mr. Obama's approval rating in the survey has remained stable, with 50% approving of his job performance, compared with 48% in March.
In the wake of the attempted Times Square terrorist attack, a plurality of respondents approve of his handling of terrorism.
But, despite White House predictions that passage of Mr. Obama's health-care bill would boost Democrats in November, the issue still appeared to be more of a drag on the president's party.
Some 44% called the health plan a bad idea, compared to 38% who saw it as a good idea.
The poll also showed sharp divisions among voters on the subject of illegal immigration.
Among all adults, support is high for the new Arizona law that makes it a state crime to be in the country illegally and requires law enforcement officers to question people if they have reasonable suspicions about their immigration status.
Some 64% said they strongly or somewhat supported the law, compared with 34% who strongly or somewhat opposed it.
Divisions were even sharper between whites and Hispanics. Among Hispanic respondents, 70% opposed the law, while 69% of whites in the survey supported it.
The survey oversampled Hispanics to increase accuracy.
Hispanics also held a different view of immigration generally than did white respondents.
In the survey, 58% of Hispanics said that immigration helped the U.S. more than it hurt, while 56% of white respondents said that immigration hurt more than it helped.
The survey found that, at the moment, Hispanics greatly favored Democrats over Republicans, particularly among Hispanics under age 40.
That stands as a danger sign for the GOP given the rapid growth of that voter bloc.
But Hispanics were far less interested in this year's elections than key Republican-leaning groups, meaning that the benefits of this trend might not accrue to the Democrats until at least the 2012 elections.
"The survey oversampled Hispanics to increase accuracy skew their sample to the DemoncRats; we didn't think we could get away with skewing everyone."
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
05/13/2010 20:27 Comments ||
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#5
Given a sampling size of 1000 (3% margin of error, 95% confidence) with 15% Hispanics. The subsample of 150 Hispanics would give an error margin of 8%. To reduce this error margin, the numbers of hispanics sampled is increased when reporting the hispanic only answers in the sample and then normalized back to 150 when reporting as a poll of the general US population.
Posted by: ed ||
05/13/2010 20:43 Comments ||
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#6
Given a sampling size of 1000 (3% margin of error, 95% confidence) with 15% Hispanics. The subsample of 150 Hispanics would give an error margin of 8%. To reduce this error margin, the numbers of hispanics sampled is increased when reporting the hispanic only answers in the sample and then normalized back to 150 when reporting as a poll of the general US population.
In English the bastards cheated.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
05/13/2010 22:45 Comments ||
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#7
"In English the bastards cheated."
That's what I said, RJ. ;-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
05/13/2010 23:08 Comments ||
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#4
I don't know what besoeker said but I feel sorry for him on this one i live in GA where these idiot bred myself
Posted by: chris ||
05/13/2010 10:54 Comments ||
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#5
Just so y'all know, that was a joke. Johnson and the admiral were part of Top Gun, and they worked out a skit where some small island would tip over if they landed on an airstrip there. It was a takeoff on that, and the admiral got a kick out of it, too. Both are known for being good at deadpan humor, but it looks like Johnson got the best of the admiral for half a second there. :-)
#7
#4 I don't know what besoeker said. Posted by chris
A few weeks ago I said I didn't think he had a chance. Shows you how little I know about Atlanta area politics. Of course over 40% of the citizenry believe Barry is doing a fine job, which proves I'm either insane or living in some sort of strange, parallel universe or both.
#8
"which proves I'm either insane or living in some sort of strange, parallel universe or both"
Go for both, B - it makes life more fun. ;-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
05/13/2010 17:50 Comments ||
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#9
Just so y'all know, that was a joke Date April 1st
[ADDENDUM and EXPLANATION: Okay folks. While its a wonderful thing to be linked by such blogosphere luminaries as Instapundit and Powerline (I welcome new readers and old), its also true that the best April Fools jokes are unexplained as such.
But an awful lot of readers (both new and old) thought I was being serious here, despite the date being April First, and despite my putting a reference to April Fools Day within the body of the piece in what I assumed would be a big hint. I really didnt want to put a note in the post itself yesterday saying ALERT: April Fools spoof! (I thought that would ruin the joke) although such a message appears many times in the comments section. But people dont always read the comments section, and many just didnt remember that the date was April 1st..
I waited till today to write this explanation and place it within the body of the post, since April Fools Day is now over and now The Truth Can Be Told. So here it is: this is a spoof.
Unfortunately, too many people may have already gone away thinking Im some sort of weirdo who spreads unsourced rumors on a daily basis. Nothing could be further from the way I usually operate (hey, did you hear about ?). Perhaps the problem is that the truths that actually did appear in this piece, (1) the video itself; (2) the fact that Willard had a role as consultant and actor in the movie Top Gun; and 3) the fact that Johnson is one of two Buddhists in Congresswere already sort of quirky. This was especially the case with the video, which should have been a joke but unfortunately was not (at least, not an intentional one).
Johnson has since said that he was offering a metaphor about Guam. I leave it to you to watch the video and judge whether that is true (I dont think so). And another fact that came out is that Johnson has been suffering from Hepatitis C and its treatment, which can affect the mind. That is true, and he wish him well in fighting the disease. But if his mind is this affected, he needs to step down from his Congressional post.
#10
And another fact that came out is that Johnson has been suffering from Hepatitis C and its treatment, which can affect the mind. That is true, and he wish him well in fighting the disease. But if his mind is this affected, he needs to step down from his Congressional post.
#1
"Radical Zionism, Radical Catholicism, Damn Amish and Freaking Episcopalians", however, is used freely in the DOJ executive offices
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/13/2010 19:09 Comments ||
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#2
What is it with the people in this administration that they cannot seem to make their lips form "radical islam?" Who the hell do they think we are fighting? And why are we fighting? If they can't answer these questions, they cannot defend the nation.
Posted by: ed ||
05/13/2010 19:45 Comments ||
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#4
"Who the hell do they think we are fighting?"
The Bambi admin thinks knows they're fighting the American people.
It's the American people who think we're fighting a war with radical i-slam.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
05/13/2010 20:18 Comments ||
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#5
"Who the hell do they think we are fighting?"
they are afraid that we are fighting back and want to take our country back. that is why this admin and the dem congress are in scorched earth mode trying to leave as little intact as possible for us after we throw them out in the next election.
Posted by: abu do you love ||
05/13/2010 21:54 Comments ||
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#6
Scorched earth works both ways. It allows the other side to rebuild on a new foundation doing away with the institutions that they've spent the long march trying to take control of. Once they debase the ground, its just as easy to clean it to a new base and start over without the disease of the old edifice. Make corrections to the old design to address weaknesses and failures and drive on.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
