In early 2008 TAC found itself in the midst of a scandal when a State Department spokesman revealed that a TAC contractor, formerly a retired State Department employee, gained unauthorized access on March 14 to the passport records for Barack Obama and John McCain.[5] The TAC employee, who has not been named, is the only individual to have accessed both Obama's and McCain's passport information without proper authorization, a State Department spokesman said. The employee's actions triggered an electronic alarm system, according to sources familiar with the probe.[6] TAC strongly disavowed the employee's actions in a subsequent press release.[7]