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Furious senior House aides are demanding committee action against a website that has posted their bank account numbers, signatures, home addresses and children’s names that are included in financial disclosure documents.
Some are demanding legal action against the website LegiStorm, which since February has been posting congressional documents online as a way to increase transparency in government. Aides have brought their complaints to the House Administration Committee and the clerk of the House.
Staffers, however, are unsatisfied so far and say they may protest by refusing to turn in personal disclosure forms by the May 15 deadline. They worry the online information could lead to identify theft or their being targeted by criminals, and some are pleading for intervention from lawyers at the House General Counsel’s office.
“No one has a problem with disclosure,” said Jeff Loveing, chief of staff to Rep. Bill Shuster (R-Pa.). “What we’re talking about is a concern for our safety, our financial safety and our children’s safety,” he said. “I’ve researched identity theft and how much of a goldmine this information is for people who deal in that world.”
Loveing argued that the House and Senate could have a “liability problem” if someone used the information to commit a crime.
Aides complained about LegiStorm during a meeting earlier this week of the House Chiefs of Staff Association, attended by representatives from the clerk’s office and staffers from the ethics committee along with 30 senior aides.
Some aides said they are livid House Administration has not at least threatened legal action against LegiStorm, which they say should be prohibited by law from using the information because it is a for-profit company.
“If any federal agency had so poorly protected thousands of sensitive personal files, they would have been called up for a full investigation by [Government and Oversight Committee Chairman] Henry Waxman [D-Calif.],” remarked one senior GOP aide.
LegiStorm founder Jock Friedly has refused to remove the names of children, home addresses and staffers’ signatures. In defending his company, he said it is up to the House and Senate to remove information from the forms if it is sensitive.
“If they fell down on their jobs, it’s not our fault,” he said.
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