Classified Documents Found Again

This really pisses me off and we have the Clintons to thank for it. I have held and maintained a high-level U.S. Government security clearance for the past 35 years. When I was in “A” school (My first formal school outside of boot camp) in Pensacola Florida, I was granted my TS/SCI security clearance and I have held it ever since. Today, I work for the Navy still at the TS/SCI level. I only mention this so those that will read this and instantly feel that they need to start a flame war on a topic that they have no clue about.

Jan 9, 2023 – Classified documents, including those at the Top Secret/SCI level, were found in an office that once belonged to then Vice President Biden. Biden left the vice President’s office in January 2017, the claim is that the documents arrived at this office after the time Biden was the Vice President. Somehow they feel that this isn’t a major problem, but I have questions.

1. If he wasn’t the VP and not yet the President, then how in the hell did he get his hands on these documents?
2. There are safeguards in place to protect classified material, it is obvious that these safeguards were not being used in this case
3. “small number”, is just BS, it doesn’t matter if there was one or one hundred
4. One mishandled classified document is one too many

December 2022 – Classified documents, including those at the Top Secret/SCI level were found in an office owned by former President Trump.

I fully understand that many of these if not all these documents were on their way to the National Archives as they house copies of all documents from a President’s time in office. But this isn’t where these documents were destined. And regardless of the reason why they were still mishandled, period.

Both of these cases are major classified spillages and I have been involved in week-long stand-downs in both the Government and the Military, due to one single secret document being in the incorrect location. These cases involving both President Trump and President Biden are very much more serious.

Anyone who spent any time in the military, already understands that the military loves to take what is known as a “stand down”, meaning that all operations cease until proper re-training can be accomplished.

Let me paint a real-world example: If I took one single Top Secret/SCI Codeword document out of the SCIF and put it in a locked desk drawer in my office (outside of the SCIF), then I’m in the wrong and I can expect at a minimum being investigated by the Command Investigator, SSO Navy and possibly NCIS. I can expect to temporarily lose my clearance (more likely permanently lose it). I might even face a fine and jail time. We are talking about one mishandled document. Regardless of your rank, the process of handling classified material is the same.

I also want to point out that the President generally doesn’t deal with classified documents. He or She would be briefed on the material, by the Chief of Staff and the “Stars and Bars” (military officers). I’m not saying that they don’t have access to classified, I’m simply stating that in their day-to-day life, they do not work with it.

I honestly think we as a society owe this lax attitude about classified documents to Hillary Clinton and the whole, email server in the bathroom, bull shit.

Finding out that she had classified data on her personal phone and tons of emails. I know if that was Joe civilian he would be hammered hard.

I’m not sure when it became so cool to sell out your government and simply ignore security protocols that are set in place to secure classified material. There are layers upon layers of protocols, policies, and rules when handling and safeguarding classified material. And those protocols, policies, and rules even apply to the President of the United States. This means that though the Federal Government isn’t taking these spillages of classified very seriously, if this was you or I that caused these spillages, we would certainly have our name in JPAS marked red, if not losing our clearance and some mandatory fun time spent in Leavenworth, Kansas.

I think another big reason for the lax attitude toward handling classified documents in the case of Chelsea Manning (then U.S. Army Soldier Bradley Manning) and Edward Snowden, both who stole large amounts of classified documents and got away with it (Manning being arrested and the commuted by President Obama, and Snowden is still on the loose). The more the public hears about cases like this, the more lackadaisical attitude toward the proper handling of classified material people seems to get.

It was bad enough that Clinton had it on her personal phone and on her email server in her bathroom, and then President Trump had it in his personal office, but “Come on Man”, having it tossed in a box of junk in your garage, next to your 1960s Chevrolet Corvette in Deleward, is on a whole other level.