Obama Administration Weighs Nixing 'Confidential' Classification

NBC News ^ | April 13, 2016 | by Ken Dilanian

[Oldeconomybuyer]

The nation's top intelligence official is considering letting spy agencies drop the lowest level of classification, "confidential," in an effort to shrink the gusher of secret documents flowing out of their offices.

The proposal by James Clapper, the director of national intelligence, comes amid a simmering controversy over classified information that found its way on to the home email system used by Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton when she was secretary of state.

In a memorandum sent last month to directors of the CIA and four other intelligence agencies, Clapper told them to "to take a leading role in reducing targeted classification activities."

[riverdawg]

“There is Confidential, Secret and Top Secret.
That’s it.
“Above Top Secret” is an invention.
It is TS with caveates, but it is still Top Secret.”

Well, there is SCI which is an ad hoc subset of Top Secret, as you suggest. I had only a Secret clearance, so I never got close to anything that was SCI, but I knew some people with a TS clearance who occasionally had to read such material in a windowless room with an armed guard inside the room. They signed in and out and were prohibited from taking notes.

[phormer phrog phlyer]

Thanks.

[mikey_hates_everything]

Armed guard? That’s just an out of control SSO that needs to be reined in. Ridiculous.

[Scrambler Bob]

In the olden days (of paper), Secret documents were logged in, and tracked. When audited, you had to produce it. Had to get permission to make a copy, which was logged in.

Not so for Confidential.

This went away with computers and classified networks.

[freebird5850]

The Obama Administration is trying to diffuse the damage done by Hillary Clinton's email leaks.
The dumbing down has begun.

[zzwhale]

Was clapper on his knees wiping something dripping from his lips when he made this statement...
Clapper is a useless slug an incompetent political hack...
The DNI is a condom stopping the flow of useful Intel and an obozo foil....

Pathetic .....

[antidisestablishment]

All electronic documents are logged. There really isn’t a problem with the systems, there is a problem with the people. Bad people do bad things, and now that half the disqualifications for clearances have become lifestyle choices, we have a lot of very bad people in very high places.

Slick Willy started destroying the vetting process, but Obama has just about completed the job. He has done more damage to our national security than anyone in the general population can know.

Our national security programs aren’t simply riddled with bad actors; they are now run by people who don’t even profess loyalty to America.

[clearcarbon]

"Obama Administration Weighs Nixing 'Confidential' Classification"

Is this a preemptive blanket pardon for his administration?

[Hulka]

yes, tracking and safeguarding is taken seriously.
In the Pentagon we had Confidential to TS in the office and stored in a safe. Making copies was not done unless it was on a special copier in the vault.
Confidential was taken seriously as all other protected documents.
Had one time where I left a Confidential message on my desk when I left for the day and self-reported in the morning and that was not taken lightlly.

[Hulka]

Indeed and thanks.

[riverdawg]

“Armed guard? That’s just an out of control SSO that needs to be reined in. Ridiculous.”

I didn’t have access to this room, which was called the “vault,” but the security of materials read there was taken very seriously. I honestly don’t see how people like Pollard and the Walkers were able routinely to photocopy or remove the TS/SCI documents they passed to their foreign contacts. It would have been extremely difficult in both the private defense contractor and government agencies with which I was familiar.