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Judicial Watch Files Civil Rights Lawsuit on Behalf of "Joe the Plumber"
Ohio Government Officials Illegally Searched Confidential State Databases for Dirt on "Joe the Plumber" in Retaliation for Speaking Out Against Barack Obama
| Source: Judicial Watch
WASHINGTON, DC--(Marketwire - March 5, 2009) - Judicial Watch, the public interest group
that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, announced today
that it filed a federal civil rights lawsuit on behalf of Samuel Joseph
Wurzelbacher, known to many as "Joe the Plumber," alleging that officials
of the State of Ohio violated Mr. Wurzelbacher's constitutional rights by
illegally accessing confidential information from its official databases.
The defendants are Helen Jones-Kelley, Fred Williams and Doug Thompson, the
three highest ranking employees of the Ohio Department of Job and Family
Services at the time of the alleged transgression. (The lawsuit was filed
in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, Eastern
Division, in conjunction with Ohio attorney David R. Langdon.)
On Sunday, October 12, 2008, Mr. Wurzelbacher was throwing a football with
his son in the front yard of his home when then-presidential candidate
Barack Obama and his campaign entourage appeared on his street. Mr.
Wurzelbacher, an employee of a small plumbing business, subsequently had
the opportunity to ask Obama about the impact of his tax proposals on small
businesses. Obama responded by saying, "It's not that I want to punish
your success; I just want to make sure that everybody who is behind you
that they've got a chance at success, too. I think when you spread the
wealth around, it's good for everybody." The exchange between Obama and
Mr. Wurzelbacher resulted in widespread media attention and references to
"Joe the Plumber" in the third presidential debate held on October 15,
2008.
According to a subsequent investigation by the Ohio Inspector General, on
October 16, 2008, just four days after Mr. Wurzelbacher questioned Obama,
Jones-Kelley, Williams and Thompson held a meeting and specifically
discussed "Joe the Plumber." Following the meeting the defendants
authorized and instructed agency personnel to search confidential office
databases to retrieve information about Mr. Wurzelbacher. All three
defendants are believed to have been supporters of Obama's presidential
campaign.
The Inspector General found "no legitimate agency function or purpose for
checking on [Mr. Wurzelbacher's] name through the [confidential databases]
or for authorizing these searches," which he labeled a "wrongful act." The
Inspector General also determined that one of the defendants, Helen
Jones-Kelley misused state resources to conduct political activities on
behalf of Obama.
"No American should be investigated for simply asking a question of a
public official. It is unconscionable that high-ranking state officials
pried into confidential government files in retaliation for Joe's exercise
of his First Amendment rights," said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.
Visit www.JudicialWatch.org to read Judicial Watch's lawsuit on behalf of
Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher.