What everyone with a Top Secret security clearance knows – or should know

Reuters ^ | 8/3/15 | Peter van Buren

[Faith Presses On]

In the world of handling America’s secrets, words – classified, secure, retroactive – have special meanings. I held a Top Secret clearance at the State Department for 24 years and was regularly trained in protecting information as part of that privilege. Here is what some of those words mean in the context of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s emails.

The Inspectors General for the State Department and the intelligence community issued a statement saying Clinton’s personal email system contained classified information. This information, they said, “should never have been transmitted via an unclassified personal system.” The same statement voiced concern that a thumb drive held by Clinton’s lawyer also contains this same secret data. Another report claims the U.S. intelligence community is bracing for the possibility that Clinton’s private email account contains multiple instances of classified information, with some data originating at the CIA and NSA.

A Clinton spokesperson responded that “Any released emails deemed classified by the administration have been done so after the fact, and not at the time they were transmitted.” Clinton claims unequivocally her email contained no classified information, and that no message carried any security marking, such as Confidential or Top Secret.

The key issue in play with Clinton is that it is a violation of national security to maintain classified information on an unclassified system.

[Faith Presses On]

She wouldn’t have those who know she’s lying believe that. Just “swing voters” who don’t know much about politics, and the true believers on the left.

[vetvetdoug]

I almost lost my TS clearance while on active duty (USAF 1974-1983) because I blanked the daughter of a Czechoslovakian ambassador once. OSI came to my barracks to confront me about it and let me know that any further contact with her would be detrimental to my clearances. I never saw her again. Hillary had the daughter and sister to members of the Muslim Brotherhood overseeing her every move at the State Department. I just shake my head.

[MasterGunner01]

Barack Hussein Obama, Hillary Clinton, John F. Kerry, Valerie Jarrett, Susan Rice — all of them — ARE security risks. However, there are many, many more. Treason flows like a river through these people.

[RedHeeler]

There is no security, except in risk. That’s just nature.

[trebb]

The interesting part is that most classified transmissions of this sort are on the SIPRNet or the Top Secret version of it - and it isn’t supposed to have any way to be transmitted outside that controlled environment. When you get into other constraints, such as SCI, there are even more snags - someone probably had to do some gymnastics to get classified data onto a unsecured network. IOW, the normal safeguards make it so one has no doubt they’re breaking the rules/laws as they have to take specific actions to defeat the safeguards.