Would this be an example of an apple not falling far from the tree?

WASHINGTON - State Department employees inappropriately examined the passport files of Democratic Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton, a security breach that forced Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to apologize to Obama.

The disclosure of inappropriate passport inquiries recalled an incident in 1992, when a Republican political appointee at the State Department was demoted over a search of presidential candidate Bill Clinton's passport records. At the time he was challenging President George H.W. Bush.

By DESMOND BUTLER, Associated Press Writer