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Hackers vs Politicians
by J. Orlin Grabbe
Politicians are those annoying people who--drink in hand--can
stare at a uuencoded file for hours, fall into a sexual reverie
involving ASCII entities, and then weave their way to the nearest
TV camera to pontificate about pornography on the Internet.
But, you ask, if they are so dumb, why are they so rich? Sometimes
the latter *is* a mystery, reminiscent of the miracle of the loaves
and the fishes.
Take the case of a man who can hardly pay his bills, but who gets
elected to national political office and goes off to Washington for a
few years. Then--lo and behold!--on his simple politician's salary,
he suddenly manages to maintain two fine homes, one inside the
beltway in Chevy Chase and another in his home town community
of Rat's Ass, to purchase new cars for his wife and himself, to
accumulate lakefront property in a neighboring county, and to stash
away a nice sum of cash in a foreign bank account.
If the "simple politician's salary" bit sounds improbable, it probably
is. Let's face it: many politicians are on the take. They may have
hidden sources of income involving illegal payoffs from
corporations, lobbying groups, or individuals. Are you a student?
Then you will be proud to know that educational commissions and
associations are also a hot new conduit for political bribes.
This article suggests a few basic procedures for finding out whether
that special politician you have in mind is getting more on the side
than ASCII sex. Honest politicians, of course, will have nothing to
fear from any of the following.
Is what I am about to do legal? you ask. Of course it is. To reassure
yourself, pull out your world-wide web browser and take a peak at
one of the many data service companies, say Insights, Inc. (located
at http://isis.iah.com/insights/background/). They promise, using
only an individual or business name and/or address, to provide
sufficient information for:
- Preparing Due Diligence Reports
- Locating People or Businesses
- Exposing and Controlling Fraud
- Uncovering & Verifying Background Information
- Identifying and Verifying Assets
How do they get away with this? Simple. They legally search public
records. Much of this public-record information is computerized,
although some of it is not. In any event, I do not advocate illegal or
questionable access methods, or the breaking of any laws.
Checking up on the (possibly criminal) politician of your choice
doesn't have to be a crime.
Still not convinced? Hop over to Infonet
(http://www.infi.net/~dgs.assc/locator/bgrndnfo.html), which for a
fee will mine public records for nuggets like:
- Felony and Misdemeanor Criminal Filings--"Search any court in
the nation for a seven year history of criminal filings and possible
convictions." (Many politicians wait until they reach office to work
on this part of their resume, but some are early starters.)
- Driving Histories--"Search a three to seven year history of an
individuals driving performance, including tickets and accidents."
(So you don't really care if your politician speeds a little now and
then. But, on the other hand, did that official who helped him get
out of a DWI expect a quid pro quo?)
- Upper and Lower Court Civil Filings--"Obtain a civil litigation
history of any individual in any court in the United States." (Is
there some hidden reason this guy is getting sued all the time?)
- Social Security Number Tracking--"Access all three credit
bureaus to verify the user of a social security number and the
addresses being used." (Having your politician's social security
number is the next best thing to having his Swiss bank account
number.)
- Professional Licensing--"Verify the existence and status of an
entity's license in a specific practice area, such as private
investigation, medicine, real estate and more." (Was your politician
really a world-renowned physicist before returning home to run for
mayor of Rat's Ass?)
- Consumer and Business Credit Reports--"Review account
balances, credit terms and payment histories for an individual or
business." ("So, before he went to Washington, he couldn't pay his
bills . . .")
Well, if they can do it, so can you.
So where do you start? Well, first see what the politician
him/herself has to say about the money flows. Federal law (5 USC
app. 6, section 101 et seq.) requires members of Congress to file
*Financial Disclosure Statements* yearly. The Financial
Disclosure form has nine parts:
Schedule I: Earned Income
Schedule II: Payments in Lieu of Honoraria Made to
Charity
Schedule III: Assets and "Unearned Income"
Schedule IV: Transactions.
Schedule V: Liabilities
Schedule VI: Gifts
Schedule VII: Fact-Finding, Substantial Participation,
and Other Travel
Schedule VIII: Positions
Schedule IX: Agreements
Want to see Newt Gingrich's personal finances for the year 1993?
Direct your web browser to http://www.cais.com/newtwatch/93sei.html.
Many state, county, and city elections have similar requirements,
either on a personal or a campaign basis. Want to see a copy of the
*Candidate Campaign Statement-Long Form-Form 490* for Joel
Ventresca, candidate for Mayor of San Francisco? Visit Campaign
Net at http://tmx.com/sfvote.
These statements represent what a politician says he or she has or
gets. But the really interesting items--like those kickbacks from the
Cali cartel--not surprisingly go unreported. To get the good stuff,
you will need your full hacker armor.
The first thing to get is your politician's *social security number
(SSN)*. It's not difficult. Your politician loves to be photographed
doing his/her civic duty of voting. Which means he or she fills out
a *voter's registration card* (public information) which will contain
said politician's name, address, date of birth, party affiliation, and--
usually--social security number. Voter files may be obtained at
your politician's local county court house, as well as on many on-
line data bases. A person's SSN is the common key that links
together many commercial and government data bases.
Can't find the SSN number on the voter's registration card? Then
try *DMV* records. The insurance lobby has made sure that
driver's records are easy to get, along with the details of any
accidents, and critical driver information such as height, color of
eyes, address--and social security number, if the latter was required
information on the form. (California won't give out addresses, if a
request has been filed not to do so--the "movie star" exemption.) In
about 20 states the individual's social security number is the driver's
license number.
Still searching? Then go with the triple whammy of the major credit
bureaus--TRW, TransUnion, and CBI/Equifax. The Fair Credit
Reporting Act essentially implies you must be contemplating a
business relationship--such as selling a car, renting an apartment,
giving a loan, or attempting to collect on a judgment--with a party
to request his credit report. But the *header* information in the
file--such as social security number, date of birth, address, and
spouse's name--is legally available to anyone, and your inquiry
(unlike an actual credit report) will leave no footprints. The
addresses and phone numbers are:
TRW
660 N. Central Expressway, Exit 28
Allen, TX 75002
Automated phone: 800-392-1122
Phone: 800-422-4879
CBI/Equifax
5505 Peachtree Dunwoody, #600
Atlanta, GA 30374-0241.
Automated phone: 800-685-1111
Phone: 800-685-5000
Trans Union
P.O.Box 7000
North Olmsted OH 44070-7000
Automated phone: 800-851-2674
Phone: (714) 738-3800, ext. 6450
Are you a hacker-journalist? Then take a peak at the National
Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting (NICAR; located at
http://www.nicar.org/). Their bylaws prohibit them from selling
data to nonjournalists (not that you want to *buy* data anyway--
we're just exploring *possibilities*). But data is "sold at or below
costs to journalism organizations or individuals for legitimate
journalism uses only." (Doing your civic duty to keep tabs on your
politician is, naturally, a legitimate journalistic use of the data.)
Their data bases include these publicly-available information sets,
among others:
Organization: Government Services Agency
Databases: Federal Procurement Contracts for 1992-1994.
Organization: Federal Election Commission
Databases: Campaign Contributions for the 1991-1994
election cycle.
Organization: Federal Reserve Board
Databases: home mortgage loans covered by Home Mortgage
Disclosure Act (for 1992-1994)
Organization: Federal Aviation Administration
Databases: Service Difficulty Reports, Airman Directory,
Aircraft Registry
Organization: Federal Bureau of Investigation
Databases: Uniform Crime Reports
Organization: Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms
Databases: Gun Dealer Licenses
The existence of such data immediately brings to mind a barrage of
possibly relevant questions:
Is there an incestuous relationship between the donors to your
politician's campaign and subsequent federal government contracts?
(It always starts somewhere . . .) To find out, compare federal
procurement data with campaign contributions. Campaign
contribution data from the Federal Election Commission are
supposed to include all contributions by individuals and political
action groups (PACs) to a politician's federal election campaign.
The Government Services Agency, meanwhile, keeps Individual
Contract Action Reports (ICARs), which has information about the
federal agency granting a government contract, the identity of the
contractor, and the contract dollar amount.
Has your politician recently purchased a new home? What is its
value? What was the down payment? Is he or she living
suspiciously beyond his or her means? What is your politician's
race or gender (DNA sequence?)? To start to answer these
questions, look at home mortgage data. The Federal Reserve Board
started keeping data like this in order to check on "fair" lending
practices. So the Fed began tracking home and home-improvement
loans, as well as bank-purchased loans. (And just to help the
enterprising hacker, when your politician is buying, or possibly
refinancing, a house, most banks will now ask for his Social
Security Number on the Deed of Trust, especially as the Federal
National Mortgage Association now requires it.)
Does your politician own an aircraft? What's its value? Did he
purchase it with cash? Check the FAA's aircraft records.
Does your politician own a gun even while advocating gun control?
If he bought the gun from a dealer, ATF records can help out here.
And so on.
Now let's get to the nitty-gritty: *city, county, and state records*.
The *City Clerk* in your politician's home town will have a list of
business licenses (name, address, date) and building permits (name,
address, cost of construction). The *County Clerk* or *County
Recorder* should have liens on file (lien holder, payment
agreements), a Probate Index (estate settlements), records of
lawsuits and judgments, powers of attorney with respect to real
estate, records of mortgages on personal property, and bankruptcy
papers. Here you can find out not only the value of your politician's
property, but also the names, addresses, and property values of
everyone who lives on his street. *City and County Courts* will
also maintain a Civil Index (civil actions, plaintiffs and defendants,
as well as civil files: description of any disputed property or
valuables), a Criminal Index (criminal cases in Superior Court, as
well as criminal files), and voter's registration files.
The *county tax collector* will have a description of any property
owned, as well as taxes paid on real estate and personal property.
The *county assessor* may also have maps and photos, or even
blueprints showing the location of your politician's hot tub. The
*Secretary of State* will have corporation files and possibly annual
reports of your politician's company.
Okay, let's go over it again, taking it slow. With your politician's
social security number in hand, you can get header information
from the major credit bureaus. This will give you a seven to ten year
history of addresses, as well any spousal name or names. The latter
is very important, since your average politician's instinct will be to
keep questionable sums of money and suspect personal assets in
the name of his or her spouse, sibling, business associate, or
girlfriend.
Next you go to the state Department of Motor Vehicles, to find out
your politician's tastes in cars, trucks, motorcyles, boats, trailers,
and recreational vehicles. Of course if your politician leases any of
the above, he or she will not show up as the vehicle owner. So the
next thing to do is to run the license plate number of that Caddy
parked out front, since this will give you the name of both lessee
and lessor.
Next you talk to someone who does business with your politician,
and who thus has a permissible reason under the Fair Credit
Reporting Act to run a credit check. This will give you a listing of
all your politician's credit accounts, current balances, payment
history, and payment terms. Any bankruptcies in the last ten years,
or liens or judgments in the last seven years, will be listed. Did
your politician suddenly receive a huge campaign contribution from
some source, soon after your politician found himself stuck with a
quarter million dollar judgment against him? If so, he won't be the
first person who has sold out his country to pay off a personal
financial debt.
What property does your politician own? The offices of County
Recorder and County Tax Assessor will give you the land value,
improvement value, and total assesssed values for any property.
They will frequently have also the amounts received for any sales,
the sale dates, as well as information on the mortgage-holder or
other lender. Did your politician get a large loan from Washoe
International State Bank just about the time Washoe International
State Bank was having trouble with state banking regulators, who
are overseen by a legislative committee on which your politician
sits?
Does your politician own a business of any consequential size?
Then run a business credit check. Who are (were) your politician's
business associates? Who are the company officers and principals?
Or--if as is commonly the case--your politician is a lawyer, who are
the law partners? Look also for bankruptcies, tax liens, public
records filings, judgments, and UCC (Uniform Commercial Code)
financing statements. These documents may turn out to be filled
with all sorts of unexpected names, dates, and activities.
On what honorary commissions does your politician serve? Do the
commission's audited financial statements show any payments for
services not rendered? This was apparently what New York
Attorney General Dennis Vacco was wondering, when he noted, on
January 9, 1996, in a letter to the National Center on Education
and the Economy: "Statement 11 on your 1990 Federal 990 and
Note 5 on your 1990 audited financial statements indicate that the
Center had retained the services of Hillary Rodham Clinton, a
member of the Rose Law firm, to direct your Workforce Skills
Program while she also served as a member of the Center's Board of
Trustees. Statement 11 of the 1990 filing indicates that Mrs.
Clinton received $23,000 for unspecified services. The 1990 filing
also refers to a second contract, which was reported to be in the
amount of $150,000 covering the period February 1, 1991 through
January 31, 1992, and a similar statement appears on Statement 11
attached to the 1991 Federal 990."
Moreover, did either Hillary Clinton or the Rose Law firm pay
taxes on the sums received? (A little birdie tells me neither one
did.)
The office of the Secretary of State in any of the 50 states can be a
source of UCC searches. UCC Indices will show whether your
politician is listed as either a debtor or secured party. (Okay. So
your politician is up to his neck in debt to Jackson Stephens. That
doesn't mean he listens to a word of political advice Stephens gives
him. No way.)
Superior Courts, Federal Bankruptcy Courts, Small Claims Courts,
and city, county, and state tax authorities keep records of tax liens,
court judgments, and bankruptcy filings. These reveal not only
outstanding financial obligations, but also personal and company
affiliations, partners, subsidiaries, and dependents. (Is there a Don
Lasater or Don Tyson in your politician's background?)
Does your politician really have those degrees he claims? Call the
college registrar. Despite what you think, many politicians don't
believe in their own "self-made man" rhetoric, and will enhance
their resumes with unearned degrees. This in itself may only be a
venal sin, but someone who records falsehoods in this area will
likely also lie in others.
Has your politician been in the news? Check your library's
newspaper file, along with reader's guides, and other news indexes.
On the Internet, you can quickly search for your politician's name
among the 8 billion words on 16 million WWW pages, using the
new Alta Vista search utility created by Digital Equipment
Corporation. You can also do a name or keyword search through all
13,000 Usenet groups. Alta Vista is located at .
Be sure to read Lee Lapin's book The Whole Spy Catalog
(Intelligence Incorporated, 2228 S. El Camino Real, San Mateo,
CA 94403; ISBN 1-880231-10-7) for literally dozens of names,
addresses, and phone numbers of data information providers, along
with an evaluation of their services. You don't need to patronize
these services in order to steal ideas from them.
Basically none of these providers specializes in politicians, so after
a little self-education and set-up, you may be in a position to start
your own business in political investigations. Bill yourself as a
21st Century Sherlock Holmes. (*Somebody* has to stop the
nefarious influence of DigiCrime, Inc., found at
http://www.digicrime.com/.)
Oh. About those foreign bank accounts. Well, I'll leave that to your
imagination. But a little birdie told me if you call a military base
computer, find an out-dial number, call another military base, and
so on, going through a *minimum* of three military bases, any
trace back will stop at the third military base.
Whatever you do, don't do anything illegal.
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