http://www.thehill.com/news/112603/hatch.aspx By Alexander Bolton November 26, 2003 Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) announced last night that a committee aide has been suspended after an internal investigation determined that the aide had accessed sensitive Democratic computer files that were leaked to the press. Appearing at a hastily called press conference in the Senate Radio-TV Gallery, Hatch said the staffer, whom he did not identify, was placed on administrative leave with pay. He said a former committee majority aide also had knowledge of the security breach, but was not disciplined. "It is with deep regret that I must report today that the interviews conducted to date have revealed at least one current member of Judiciary Committee majority staff had improperly accessed some of the [Democratic] documents," Hatch said. Hatch said he was "mortified" at the results of the investigation, which he ordered. "There's no excuse that can justify these actions," he said. The chairman has instructed his staff to fully cooperate with the ongoing investigation, which was carried out by "two experienced federal prosecutors assigned to the committee." They interviewed some 50 current and former staff members. Hatch's dramatic disclosure reversed an earlier claim of innocence that came earlier in the day when he announced that the internal GOP investigation had turned up no evidence of culpability by the Republican staff. In a related development, The Hill learned yesterday that Sergeant-at-Arms William Pickle had hired a renowned counter-espionage and anti-terrorism expert to join the investigation of the alleged theft of internal Democratic documents from a committee computer system. The expert, David Lang, an employee of General Dynamics, began work yesterday, according to Senate sources. It was not immediately clear what effect, if any, Hatch's disclosures would have on Lang's role. Meanwhile, the sergeant-at-arms also informed Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) that members of his office will work with the Judiciary staff to create separate computer systems for Republicans and Democrats on the committee, as the Democrats have requested. Until now, majority and minority committee staff has shared a computer system. Democrats suspect that Republicans stole sensitive documents from their files. The documents revealed the role of outside groups such as the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and People for the American Way in consulting and advising committee Democrats on how to deal with President Bush's nominees to the federal bench. "A forensic assessment of the Judiciary Committee's networks will be critical to determining if there was unauthorized access to files and to build a history of accounts and privileges," wrote Pickle early this week in a letter to Durbin. "We believe that this analysis, coupled with interviews of committee staff and former staff who had access to the documents in question, will provide us the information we need to conduct this investigation." Lang brings to the task a long list of credentials. During a 25-year career in counter-espionage, anti-terrorism, and law enforcement, he has worked with the United Nations and NATO, conducting penetration and mock destruction tests of NATO command facilities, some of the most secure in the world. He also tested the vulnerability of Saudi Arabia's computer systems after Operation Desert Storm. In addition, Lang worked for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and served as a U.S. arms control treaty inspector. Lang also served 20 years in the U.S. Air Force and served as the special agent in charge of the Schriever (crct) Air Force base in Colorado. Lang was hired after Democratic Sens, Patrick Leahy (Vt.), Edward Kennedy (Mass) and Durbin asked for an independent computer and forensics expert to enter the investigation. General Dynamics is headquarted in Falls Church, Va., and bills itself as a world leader in mission-critical information systems and land and amphibious combat systems. It employs over 50,000 people. The sergeant-at-arms has also asked the General Accounting Office to perform a comprehensive study of the Judiciary panel's computer security and recommend any vulnerabilities that need to be protected. Since Nov. 16, Pickle has turned daily backup tapes of the Judiciary panel's computer system to the Capitol Police. On Friday, his staff also seized four committee computer servers. Earlier this week, several Judiciary Committee Republicans, including Sens. John Cornyn (Texas), Saxby Chambliss (Ga.), Jeff Sessions (Ala.), Larry Craig (Idaho), and Lindsey Graham (S.C.) objected to what they feared would become a open-ended fishing expedition into committee business. "We strongly object to allowing anyone to read backup tapes or other electronic media from the Judiciary Committee server, the Exchange server or otherwise breach the privacy of our electronic files and communications," the lawmakers wrote in a letter to Pickle dated Nov. 22. Committee Republicans requested that the sergeant-at-arms give them a status report of what steps have been taken and are currently being taken in the investigation, and notify them of all current action and any future action in connection with the investigation. They also demanded that the inquiry be limited exclusively to an examination of the 14 Democratic memoranda that were leaked to The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Times. - ISN is currently hosted by Attrition.org To unsubscribe email majordomo@private with 'unsubscribe isn' in the BODY of the mail.
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