Helen Jones-Kelley, the suspended director of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, "had no legitimate agency function or purpose to support her decision" to check on the newly minted political figure, the report states.

The investigation by the office of Inspector General Thomas P. Charles found that the reasons that Jones-Kelley offered for the checks "were not credible and they included contradictions, ambiguity, and inconsistencies."

The report reached no conclusion on whether Jones-Kelley's approval of the checks were politically motivated.

"However, the circumstances surrounding the unauthorized searches are exacerbated in light of the director's sending and receiving e-mail related to a political activity through state resources," the report said.

The report also faults other agency employees for their role in the computer checks on Toledo-area resident Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher, who was popularized as "Joe the Plumber" by Republican presidential candidate John McCain.

The report found that assistant agency director Fred Williams and Doug Thompson, a deputy child-support director, bore some responsibility for the checks.

"Thompson's conduct is further called into question" by his directing an ODJFS employee to send a "deceptive" e-mail to another agency official explaining the check she ran on Wurzelbacher was for child-support purposes.

Charles' report recommended more stringent steps and policies to govern access to confidential information on Ohioans in agency computer systems and called for the creation of an audit trail to determine who is running checks on whom.

Charles said his report would be sent to the office of Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O'Brien for review.

Democrat Gov. Ted Strickland placed Jones-Kelley on paid leave Nov. 7 after e-mails requested by The Dispatch revealed she used her state e-mail account to help raise campaign funds for President-Elect Barack Obama.

The inspector general's report found that the e-mails violated Strickland's policy on political activity and constituted a "wrongful act" as an inappropriate use of state resources.

The Dispatch reported earlier that Jones-Kelley had ordered a check on Wurzelbacher through her agency's child-support computer system.

She later revealed that checks on "Joe" also were run in public-assistance and unemployment-compensation -tax databases, but stressed that none of the confidential information was made public.

Wuzelbacher became a national political fixture after he questioned Obama's tax policies during the Democrat's campaign appearance in the man's neighborhood. Republican John McCain then frequently referred to "Joe the Plumber" during his Oct. 15 debate with Obama.

Jones-Kelley said there were no political motives behind the checks run the day after the debate. Jones-Kelley had contributed $5,000 to Obama campaign funds in late July.

Yeah, but it wasn't politically motivated, right?

The Columbus Dispatch