Investigators say Travis Lee Bailey, a self-described wannabe spy for Russia, did not obtain any sensitive documents during the two weeks he worked for the Utah Department of Technology Services.
That comes after Bailey, a nonpracticing attorney, said he “found a gold mine” of documents because of lax security that he called “an absolute horrendous joke.” He said he passed them on to Russia, where he has been working to obtain asylum.
“We looked at his computers and found that he did not access any sensitive information,” Stephanie Weteling, spokeswoman for the department, said Monday.
“Because he did not take anything sensitive, we are not pursuing any charges against him,” she said. But he has been fired, “and our investigation has finished.”
There’s no indication Bailey is really a spy. After all, it would be unusual for a spy to call a newspaper to talk about his work — and get himself fired from his state job in the process. But Bailey did exactly that earlier this month.
He said he saw emails saying he was about to be fired and wanted to go public with his story. State officials say they learned about his claims only after The Salt Lake Tribune contacted them for a response.
Bailey also sent The Tribune some of the documents he said he sent to Russia, and most were photos of items on a bulletin board — including notices of minimum wage requirements and Family Leave Act descriptions. He also sent a manual about emergency evacuation procedures at the state Capitol.
Bailey says he was sending information abroad hoping “to get the attention of Russia” because “I want to be an informant for them.” He said he told the newspaper about it “because it gives me notoriety.” He said he lived in Russia for four years teaching English and plans to return there soon.
The situation raised questions about how he obtained a job with the department that handles the state’s computer systems.
Weteling said earlier that Bailey was hired as an administrative assistant — with limited access to state information — after applying online and having two interviews.
She said the state routinely checks two references provided by the applicant and contacts former employers. He was also fingerprinted and underwent a background check.
“He passed through all of that,” Weteling said.
When asked if the state does web searches of applicants, she said, “I think we did a little bit of that, I’m not sure the extent.”
If it was done, it likely missed the Amazon.com listing of a book Bailey wrote, “America’s Other War: Terrorizing Colombia.” The online synopsis says after Bailey smuggled “secrets from the United States Strategic Command into Russia … [he] is currently working toward Russian political asylum.”
As another possible red flag, the name on his personal email address is “moscowamerican.” Also during the three weeks he worked for the state, Bailey said he took one week off to travel to Russia — saying he lied to say it was to a long-arranged marriage. Weteling said Bailey indeed took a week off.
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