You Don't Say: Joe the Plumbers Records Searched Improperly

Well, this should surprise absolutely no one, even the most partisan Obama supporters. What the Ohio politicians did to Joe Wurzelbacher, aka Joe the Plumber, was nothing short of criminal.

Even Governor Ted Strickland, a Democrat, has been forced to take action in the matter, suspending Helen Jones-Kelley for her running searches on Joe and claiming that they were part of some official government policy, although what she did is not only a firing offense, but criminal:

Strickland announced today that Helen Jones-Kelley, director of the Department of Job and Family Services, will be placed on unpaid leave for one month in response to an inspector general's investigation.

The investigation found Jones-Kelley had no legitimate reasons to check on Toledo-area resident Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher, who was popularized as "Joe the Plumber" by Republican presidential candidate John McCain. It also confirmed she improperly used her state e-mail account to raise campaign money for President-elect Barack Obama.

Some Republican leaders, who cited the report's findings to call on Democrat Strickland to fire Jones-Kelley, were stunned that she will remain on the job.

"The actions described in this report cross the line of what you can do and lead a state agency. She violated the public trust," said House Speaker Jon Husted, R-Kettering.

"The governor's lack of firm action here sends a message he is going to be tolerant of a state government that acts in inappropriate ways. He promised a higher standard and this is a lower standard."

Jones-Kelley was far from alone in running computer searches on Joe, as several other agencies were involved, but no one did so from as high a position as Jones-Kelley.

The inspector general's report found that the e-mails violated Strickland's policy on political activity and constituted a "wrongful act" as an inappropriate use of state resources.

The report also faulted other agency employees for their role in the computer checks on Wurzelbacher.

The report found that assistant agency director Fred Williams and Doug Thompson, a deputy child-support director, bore some responsibility for the checks run the day after the Oct. 15 presidential debate.

"Thompson's conduct is further called into question" by his directing a Job and Family Services employee to send a "deceptive" e-mail to another agency official explaining that the check she ran on Wurzelbacher was for child-support purposes.