Obama Passport Breach Scandal

Guide Note:According to MSNBC, two contract employees of the U.S. State Department's Bureau of Consular Affairs have been fired for accessing Democratic Presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama's passport file on three separate occasions in January, February, and March 2008. A third employee has been disciplined. The Obama campaign called the unauthorized prying, "an outrageous breach of security and privacy... we demand to know who looked at the passport file, for what purpose." Senator Joe Biden called for an investigation by the State Department Inspector General.

Fast Facts:

1. Three employees involved in incident
2. Incident occurred in January 2008
3. The employees were contractors
4. 1992: Then-candidate Bill Clinton's file breached; three year investigation ensued
5. Government maintains tight restrictions on confidential files of presidential candidates
6. The FBI is conducting an inquiry into the incident
7. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack: files accessed "without a need to do so."
8. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice apologized to Obama for the breach