Each time State Department clerk Brooke Reyna logged onto to the federal government’s PIERS database, an automated warning reminded her that the system was for official use only and unauthorized searches were a violation of federal law.
Reyna was also informed that her activity on PIERS was subject to monitoring by the State Department and law-enforcement officials. But none of that apparently bothered Reyna, according to a federal grand jury indictment filed earlier this year in New Hampshire.
Short for the Passport Information Electronic Records System, PIERS contains consular documents dating back to the 1970s, as well as all imaged passport applications since 1994. Specifically it houses full names, dates and places of birth, phone numbers and current addresses, plus parental and spousal information.
Prosecutors allege that Reyna on 300 occasions looked up passport applications for “celebrities, actors, reality-television contestants, television personalities, musicians, models, athletes” and their families. News accounts say the sister of tabloid fixation Lindsay Lohan was among them.
“Defendant Reyna had no official government reason to access and view these passport applications,” the indictment reads.