Federal prosecutors are investigating whether State Department employees broke the law by snooping into the passport records of prominent politicians, athletes and entertainers, Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey said.

''And if somebody committed a crime, we are going to do our level best to make sure that somebody goes to jail,'' Mr. Mukasey told the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Last week, a report by the State Department's inspector general found that 85 percent of the passport files for a sampling of 150 notable politicians, athletes and entertainers had been accessed 4,148 times from September 2002 to March 2008.

The report did not conclude that any files had been improperly viewed or any laws broken. But on Tuesday, the State Department referred its findings to Justice Department criminal prosecutors.

Five contract passport workers have been fired for their role in improperly looking at the passports of three senators who were running for president: John McCain, Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton.

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