I recently "celebrated" the fourteenth anniversary of this blog. I almost never discuss the specifics of what I do for a living in the blog. There are occasional anecdotal incidents but never specifics like names, employers or clients, dates, locations, etc. There are various reasons for that, including I don't want to write about colleagues, friends or relatives without their knowledge and consent, and I don't want any of them blamed for my idiosyncratic opinions. To be honest, I don't know a single person who shares my opinion on any combination of issues, certainly not my mom or siblings.
In other contexts, I have up to lifetime non-disclosure agreements with present or past employers and/or their end clients. I have worked as a database administrator and/or other IT professional roles in a number of industries (e.g., insurance, oil, auto supplies, infrastructure equipment, computer chips and telecommunications, nutrition products, college ERP software, office supplies, sugar producer, gaming machines, retailers, credit card issuers, paper products, industrial supplies, industrial and environmental machinery, a television channel, etc.) As a consultant or contractor, I have served clients at the local, county, state and federal level (including multiple agencies or departments).
It can be very difficult to get one's foot into the door for classified positions as a contractor; recruiters prefer someone with an existing active clearance. To give an example, in 2014-5, I had a contingent offer with a Department of Energy vendor in the Pittsburgh area. The contingency was a Q clearance, sort of Top Secret equivalent and an upgrade to any existing clearance. There was no interim clearance, so I could start work while waiting on approval. I remember an hours-long interview in a fast food place (she wanted the library but it wasn't open) going over some 60 pages of paperwork. I remember shortly thereafter she called me, screaming at me over an alleged omission on my questionnaire. My WV landlady told her my first week on the job my apartment wasn't ready and so I stayed (AT MY EXPENSE) at a motel. (My Baltimore area apartment was over 200 miles away, not a reasonable commute..) She yelled at me for "misleading" her and griping she would need to go and interview the motel operator about me. Seriously, dude? I probably checked in and out with the front desk and that was it on a short stay months earlier. I had no clue why travel arrangements were getting that level of scrutiny; it was insane.
Then there was the report from an investigator who basically accused me of lying about my 2010 employer; he want to the address and found it vacated. Seriously, dude? Hos competent were these bozos? There were still cached copies of the company's website on the Internet. I had to do a lot of Googling to figure out what had happened. My former employer lost its recompete to service USPTO.. I ended finding my former CEO's resume on LinkedIn, and he mentioned shutting down the company in 2012. It's not like they reach out to former employees over these things.
Long story short, I had told the process would only take maybe a couple of weeks like the last contractor with my type credentials. It ended up taking months--and no cigar. (No rejection but I stayed on the market and took another offer in the interim.) You have no direct window into what's going on, but I informally heard the clearance staff had shrunk from 14 to 2, and new government employees got priority.
Now none of this directly bears on the Trump kerfuffle but it does indirectly show how seriously the government takes national security. I can't go into specifics regarding my own exposure to the environment, but there are things widely discussed on the Internet. You are constantly taking refresher courses on classification concepts and derivative classification , threat awareness and reporting program, etc. You get used to leaving your cellphone and other devices (smartwatches, etc.) outside the SCIF. I had to get escorted to work inside the SCIF/vault and I had a long list of prerequisite steps to get qualified to get codes to open the SCIF and secure containers. There were warnings/flashing lights/alerts to warn of visitors (to avoid exposure of classified material).. I had to access separate workstations for NIPR (normal work) and SIPR (classified) emails. You get reminded of classification settings before sending emails. I'm not arguing this description/summary is comprehensive, but to the layman it's a good introduction.
So if and when you hear of highly classified material being held in a padlocked basement room of the Trump mansion, it's almost a bad joke. Some uncleared person with a key and cellphone camera poses a threat to national security. (I don't know the specifics of the agreement between Trump and DOJ but apparently there was surveillance of the room. More troubling are reports of boxes being moved in and out of the area, presumably to where they were accessed outside of camera range.
The Presidential Records Act basically requires retention of Presidential documentary materials:
The term "Presidential records" means documentary materials, or any reasonably segregable portion thereof, created or received by the President... The term "documentary material" means all books, correspondence, memoranda, documents, papers, pamphlets, works of art, models, pictures, photographs, plats, maps, films, and motion pictures, including, but not limited to, audio and visual records, or other electronic or mechanical recordations, whether in analog, digital, or any other form....The United States shall reserve and retain complete ownership, possession, and control of Presidential records; and such records shall be administered in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.
Also note that U.S. Const., art. I, §9, cl. 8) prohibits POTUS from accepting gifts. Much Trumpkin scorn been made of a seized cocktail napkin. I don't know the specifics; did Trump write something on it? Was it commemorative of an official event? I'm pretty sure souvenirs weren't the focus of the search and likely would be returned.
At this point, let's summarize the framework of the kerfuffle as I understand it. I believe there's a liaison office at the White House from or supporting NARA as custodian of Presidential records. We know, at least anecdotally, Trump wasn't happy with the situation; there are reports of staffers scotch-taping ripped up documents, papers flushed down the toilet, etc. I don't know the nature and extent of this pattern of behavior, whether his predecessors were guilty of the same, etc.But Trump is notoriously stubborn (unrepentant in his denial of his 2020 election loss).
Somehow in the process of leaving office, boxes of records which should have gone to NARA got sent to Trump's Florida mansion along with his personal household goods. We don't know to what extent Trump was involved in moving activities, including the shipping of government documents.Yahoo reported in February that Trump had secretly packed some boxes, including top secret documents that were turned earlier (see below). Note in context from my own experience discussed above, moving boxes are not considered secure. We had SCIF's with vault entrances and secured containers within the SCIF.
I don't know the specifics of how NARA retrieved records--on a periodic sweep or cumulatively at the end of a Presidential tenure. Presumably the NARA liaison tracked documents and their storage. What we know is NARA noted at least 15 boxes of records had been shipped to Florida, and NARA last year negotiated with Trump's lawyers to retrieve 15 boxes, including Trump's correspondence with the North Korea dictator, this past January.
Trump's uncooperative attitude and reference to missing items is noted below:
Trump said in a statement Thursday, NBC News reports. “In fact, it was viewed as routine and ‘no big deal.’ In actuality, I have been told I was under no obligation to give this material based on various legal rulings that have been made over the years.”...This week [2/10/22] the National Archives revealed it was forced to arrange to transport the cartons, which by law are federal property under the Presidential Records Act of 1978. NARA also revealed it is awaiting Trump to return other undisclosed items.
It's not clear what the undisclosed items are but in June investigators are aware of boxes likely containing classified documents in Trump's basement, demand increased security (with Trump lawyers saying a padlock implemented) and a couple of weeks later serve a subpoena. Then a week ago, while Trump was in NY, the FBI executes a search warrant. What we've since learned is Trump is under investigation for up to 3 crimes (the Espionage Act, obstruction of justice and criminal handling of government records), and agents retrieved at least 11 sets of classified data.
There are other bits and pieces I've become aware of, including the FBI was tipped off by an informant (Secret Service?) that Trump was still in possession of classified documents and where they were likely stored, and surveillance footage showing boxes being moved in/out of the storage room in question after DOJ met with Trump lawyers.
I'm personally fed up with Trump's excuses, whether it's 60 court cases of no merit disputing his election loss, his charges of hypocrisy in dealing with alleged misconduct with Hillary Clinton or Obama, his dispute the Presidential Record Act doesn't apply to him,, etc.
What really triggered this rant was Trump's absurd claim that none of those classified documents he stole were classified because he had a standing executive order to declassify any documents he transferred. And leftist Anti-Trumpers say fine; the laws you broke don't depend on the material being classified.
Wait a minute. Don't concede a single point, idiots. Trump signed into law 18 U.S. Code § 1924 - Unauthorized removal and retention of classified documents or material, making it a felony. If I had done what Trump did, I would be facing a prison sentence. This is yet another instance of Trump thinking he's above the law.
Second, while POTUS does have some authority of resolving disputes in the classification/declassification process, there is due process involved. It's not like you can simply declare classified data unclassified. The relevant threat to national security doesn't go away because Trump uttered a magic spell because he doesn't like the inconvenience of accessing the document in a SCIF. Could he still have done this on a case by case basis, risking national security in the process? Maybe, although I would argue it's an abuse of power. But we are ruled by law, not men.
If Trump had, in fact, declassified the documents, there should be supporting documentation of the declassification, and the document markets should reflect the changed. So I call this standing order nonsense BS.
I am just so sick and tired of this. "I have unlimited powers... I can pardon myself" rubbish. Did he have pardon power? Yes. Do you think he could sell pardons like the Catholic Church once sold indulgences? Of course not. There is no corruption loophole in the Constitution. It's an impeachable crime if the Congress decides it is.
More to the point, Trump no longer has any ability to declassify things ever since he left office. And in fact, he no longer has a need to know to even access classified material. If and when I left a secured position, they immediately froze my access. There is no double standard.
