[Infowarrior] - McCain Campaign Sells Info-Loaded Blackberry to FOX 5 Reporter

[Richard Forno]

McCain Campaign Sells Info-Loaded Blackberry to FOX 5 Reporter
Exclusive FOX 5 Investigation
Last Edited: Thursday, 11 Dec 2008, 11:02 PM EST
Created: Thursday, 11 Dec 2008, 11:02 PM EST

http://www.myfoxdc.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=8055902&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=3.2.1

ARLINGTON, Va. - Private information at bargain prices.  It was a high- 
tech flub at the McCain-Palin campaign headquarters in Arlington when  
Fox 5’s Investigative Reporter Tisha Thompson bought a Blackberry  
device containing confidential campaign information.

It started with a snippet we read on page A23 in Thursday’s Washington  
Post.  The McCain-Palin campaign was going to sell its used office  
inventory at low prices.

But when we got there, it didn’t look like we were going to get much.   
It was lunchtime and most of the good stuff was gone, picked over by  
early birds looking for deals on file cabinets, white boards, sofas--  
anything headquarters could sell to get back some of their campaign  
dough.

We saw laptops ranging between $400 and $600 with logins like  
“WARROOM08.”  We couldn’t log on without a password, but staffers  
assured us the hard drive would be zapped before it was sold, and the  
computer would probably work.

The hottest item?  Blackberry phones at $20 a piece.  There were only  
10 left.  All of the batteries had died.  There were no chargers for  
sale.  But people were snatching them up.  So, we bought a couple.

And ended up with a lot more than we bargained for.

When we charged them up in the newsroom, we found one of the $20  
Blackberry phones contained more than 50 phone numbers for people  
connected with the McCain-Palin campaign, as well as hundreds of  
emails from early September until a few days after election night.

We traced the Blackberry back to a staffer who worked for “Citizens  
for McCain,” a group of democrats who threw their support behind the  
Republican nominee.  The emails contain an insider’s look at how  
grassroots operations work, full of scheduling questions and rallying  
cries for support.

But most of the numbers were private cell phones for campaign leaders,  
politicians, lobbyists and journalists.

We called some of the numbers.

“Somebody made a mistake,” one owner told us.  “People’s numbers and  
addresses were supposed to be erased.”

“They should have wiped that stuff out,” another said.  But he added,  
“Given the way the campaign was run, this is not a surprise.”

We called the McCain-Palin campaign, who says, “it was an unfortunate  
staff error and procedures are being put in place to ensure all  
information is secure.”

But we wonder-- Did we get the only Blackberry with personal campaign  
information in it?  Or did you get one too?

Let us know by dropping an email to fox5tips at wttg.com or calling our  
Fox 5 News Desk at (202) 895-3280.