Joe the Plumber Searches Were 'Improper'

Politics | Fri, Nov 21, 2008 at 8:43:39 am PST

The dirtiest kind of dirty politics: Report: Records search on Joe the Plumber improper.

TOLEDO, Ohio – An agency director improperly used state computers to find personal information on “Joe the Plumber,” a government watchdog said in a report released Thursday.

There was no legitimate business purpose for the head of Ohio’s Department of Job and Family Services to order staff to look up the records, Inspector General Tom Charles said.

Investigators weren’t able to determine whether the searches were politically motivated, the report said.