Dear politicians, stop misplacing classified material, writes mpolymer.
There are stark differences in terms of intent and obstruction. Biden may have had no idea that there were classified materials stored away in various locations, while Trump appears to have known he retained such materials and then refused to return them. But the fact remains that classified material from Biden’s private properties has spilled into the public domain. And that is a serious counterintelligence problem.by Attorney General Merrick Garland is important.
But the top line is clear. Whether inadvertent or deliberate, leaving classified documents in unsecured spaces is dangerous. It risks the exposure of sources and methods. With all the noise on this issue in the media and between the highly polarized political classes, we must remember what keeps the intelligence community up at night. An unsecured document that contains information from a human source can get that person killed.
We can argue about the differences between the Trump and Biden cases all day long. But I know my old colleagues in thespace are likely thinking to themselves,"What the heck is wrong with these political leaders and their staff who can’t seem to properly handle our classified material correctly?" It’s the right question to ask. A clear and robust apolitical message should be sent to the political world: Tighten up everyone — lives and America's security are at stake.
If nothing else, it's worth considering what would occur to a rank-and-file employee of the intelligence community who was found to be storing classified material in their home office and garage. For one, their security clearance would be stripped, and they would be fired. Perhaps they would not be prosecuted if this was all inadvertent. But no doubt, they would be tending bar at the Vienna Inn rather than heading down Route 123 to work at Langley.
Marc Polymeropoulos is a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council. A former CIA senior operations officer, he retired in 2019 after a 26-year career serving in the Near East and South Asia. His book More from Examiner
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