Feds Probe Firm That Did Snowden Background Check

Federal officials are conducting a criminal investigation of the private company that performed a 2011 security background check on Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor who leaked some of the nation’s most closely held secrets to the media, a U.S. senator said Thursday.

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D., Mo.) said that USIS, the largest contractor that conducts security background checks for the federal government, is being scrutinized over allegations of a “systematic failure to conduct investigations.”

The probe isn’t directly connected to Mr. Snowden’s leaks, although Ms. McCaskill said USIS was responsible for his 2011 background investigation. Ms. McCaskill’s comments came at the start of a Senate hearing to examine the government’s security background check in the wake of Mr. Snowden’s leaks.