( dpa ) - Three contractors at the US State Department have been disciplined for looking at Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's passport file, the department said Thursday.
Two contract employees were fired for looking at the records without authorization and a third was disciplined.
The breaches occurred in three separate incidents over the past three months, but there was no evidence the incidents were politically motivated, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.
Senior officials were only notified of the breach earlier in the day, and the department said it would conduct an investigation.
The Obama campaign was not notified of the security breach until Thursday.