[Citizen Tom Paine]

When one works for the Federal Government or a contractor supporting a government agency one has to have a "need to know" before one gets access to the information or document. Concurrently, one has to be cleared to the appropriate level. As an example, if you have a need to know something on the Secret level you undergo a background investigation and then are cleared for Secret. This Secret clearance only gives you access to info which you need to know. Similarly for Top Secret information except the restrictions are much more restrictive.

Someone that is cleared has to sign out the documents that they look at, and they have to return them when they are finished looking at them. This is done each day (and each time that you look at them) You may not even leave them on your desk when you go out to lunch. Theoretically, a document will be missed by the security officer on the day that the document is not returned. The security officer will know this when they close out their log for the day's activities.

The first question is why did Mr Berger have a need to know about these documents. The second question is if he did have a need to know did he have the appropriate clearances to read them. The third question is why didn't the security officer nail him on the afternoon of the first day when he tried to remove one. And the fourth question is why isn't he now in an appropriate slammer?

I certainly would like to know.

[Intolerant in NJ]

... if you have a need to know something on the Secret level you undergo a background investigation and then are cleared for Secret. This Secret clearance only gives you access to info which you need to know. Similarly for Top Secret information except the restrictions are much more restrictive...that's the way it's supposed to work, but as a young 1st lt. overseas during the early stages of the Vietnam war I often had to receive and secure Top Secret documents (troop movements, etc) after hours while serving as duty officer - only when I returned stateside after eighteen months was I finally interviewed and given an official Top Secret clearance - presumably things tightened up significantly as the war progressed and hopefully are better now, but even under the system as it's "supposed" to work documents aren't always that secure - Berger would have had little trouble getting away with what he wanted, especially if he deliberately filched them, which of course he did.....