Report on stolen Senate files cites two staffers, lax security

WASHINGTON - Two former Senate Republican staffers are to blame for distributing Democratic computer memos about judicial nominees to Republicans, but the computer files also were not adequately protected, said a Senate report released Thursday.

Democrats are calling for an outside investigation, but the committee has yet to decide what its next step will be. The report said 4,670 files were found on a GOP aide's computer, "the majority of which appeared to be from folders belonging to Democratic staff."

Senate Judiciary Chairman Orrin Hatch said the intrusion was inexcusable.

"I am mortified that this improper, unethical, simply unacceptable breach of confidential files occurred," said Hatch, R-Utah.

Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., who said his office was targeted for the snooping, suggested that Illinois U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald be appointed as a special prosecutor by the Justice Department to review the information uncovered so far and make recommendations on how to proceed.

Added Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.: "It is my view and the view of a few others, that the only way to get to the bottom of this is a special counsel with full investigative powers."

A report released by the Judiciary Committee and written by Senate Sergeant-at-Arms William Pickle's office faults two former GOP aides: Manuel Miranda, who worked for Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and Judiciary Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, before resigning, and Jason Lundell, a clerk who worked on nominations for Hatch before leaving last year.

The report said the investigation did not identify any other individuals besides Miranda and Lundell "who were accessing other users' files on the Judiciary Committee computer network."

This marks the first time Lundell has been named. Senators had been referring to him as a "young Hatch staffer."

Miranda, in an e-mailed statement, said the report "merely colors in what we volunteered over three months ago, but does so at the cost of $500,000."

Regardless, "the report fails to find any criminal hacking or any credible suggestion of criminal acts," said Miranda. He also asked for an investigation of what he called "unethical substance" of the Democrats' memos.

Conservatives say the memos prove the Democrats colluded with liberal groups concerning which Bush nominees to block, and at least one ethics complaint has been filed against Durbin and Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., based on the leaked information.

Punishment for the snooping was "beyond the scope of this report," but if the Justice Department attempts to prosecute, lawyers could use the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act - a misdemeanor punishable by a fine and a year imprisonment upon conviction, the report said.

Lundell was able to get into the Democratic computer because the folders were not well-protected, the report said. He learned how to get access by watching a system administrator work on his computer, the report said.

Lundell printed out more than 100 documents dealing with the nomination battle over Mississippi Judge Charles Pickering and searched Democratic files almost daily while working on the nomination of Texas Judge Priscilla Owen, the report said. Both were being blocked by Senate Democrats.

President Bush gave Pickering a recess appointment in January. Owen still is being blocked in the Senate.

Miranda worked for Hatch from December 2001 to January 2003 and worked for Frist until he resigned in February. Lundell was accepted into graduate school in Texas and left in January, the report said.

Democrats want to know if the White House or the Justice Department got copies of the memos and used them to coach Bush's nominees for confirmation hearings.

"If you take things that do not belong to you, that is wrong and there is no way to whitewash that," Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said before the closed hearing.

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