Could Clinton Donor Be At Center Of Obama Records Controversy?

The two contractors who were fired for spying into Obama’s passport records worked for a company run by an apparent Clinton supporter. Could Clinton Donor Be At Center Of Obama Records Controversy?By Cliff Montgomery – Mar. 21st, 2008The two contractors who were fired for spying into the passport records of Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama had worked for an Arlington, VA-based company called Stanley, Inc., according to a story just off the wire from The Associated Press (AP).And also has learned that the company’s CEO appears to be a firm supporter of Obama’s rival for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination, Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY).The 3,500-person corporation just days ago won a five-year contract with the State Department to provide passport services, a deal worth a whopping $570-million.What is Stanley, Inc.? Hoovers, a data company which “gives its customers a competitive edge with insightful information about industries, companies, and key decision makers,” provides an interesting company description of Stanley, Inc.:”Stanley isn’t afraid of big government. The company provides IT services–including consulting, systems integration, logistics, outsourcing, and engineering–primarily to military and civilian agencies of the US government. Its clients have included the Library of Congress, the Department of Defense, the Department of Transportation, the Department of land Security, the Department of Justice, the Department of State, NASA, and the Smithsonian Institution.”Stanley CEO Philip Nolan’s apparent choice for our next president may be also of interest. The American Spark has discovered that a Philip Nolan who works at Stanley, Inc. donated $1,000 to the 2008 presidential campaign of Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) on Feb. 20th, according to a March Federal Election Commission report. Whether this is the same Philip Nolan could not immediately be verified–but the Spark will continue to look into it.  The corporation currently is referring all queries to the U.S. State Department. An agency official told AP that the two fired contractors had been Stanley employees. The official asked not to be identified, as this info has yet to be publicly released.”State Department employees snooped through the passport files of three presidential candidates–Sens. Barack Obama, Hillary Rodham Clinton and John McCain,” an earlier AP story stated, “and the department’s inspector general is investigating.”Sean McCormack, spokesman for the State Department, told reporters that the snooping into Clinton and McCain’s passport files had not been discovered until Friday. Officials previously found out about the unauthorized exploration through Obama’s records; a subsequent review revealed the searches into the other senators’ files.The unwarranted searches into the records of presidential candidates reminds one of Watergate. To make matters more suspicious–if that’s possible–the two Stanley employees were quickly fired after the discovery of their search into Obama’s passport records, before they had been properly interviewed by government investigators.Such spying also is reminiscent of a lesser-known 1992 incident, in which a GOP political appointee working at then-President George H.W. Bush’s State Department was caught conducting eerily similar witch hunts into the passport records of Democratic presidential candidate Bill Clinton. That employee was not fired, only demoted.McCormack told AP that the third spy who searched through Obama’s files also had reviewed McCain’s passport record earlier in the year. That contract employee was reprimanded, but has not been fired. But the employee has lost all official access to passport files, McCormack added.Like what you’re reading so far? Then why not order a full year (52 issues) of thee-newsletter for only $15? A major article covering an story not being told in the Corporate Press will be delivered to your email every Monday morning for a full year, for less than 30 cents an issue. Order Now!