Have you ever been inside a SCIF? I have. Many times. For years, I held Top Secret/SCI clearances. This meant that I would go to a Special Compartmentalized Information Facility for meetings, briefings or sometimes just to read Special Compartmentalized Information that I could not take out of the room.
The rooms are windowless, heavily shielded to prevent any eavesdropping or interception of signals. It was where you went to discuss some of the most highly sensitive information the government had.
Discussions about this information definitely did not include using your computer or phone, no matter what app you used. You couldn’t even bring a phone, computer (or now smart watch or earpods) into the room. You could not take notes. You could not discuss this material with anyone outside the room, even if they, too, held Top Secret/SCI clearances.
If I had disclosed any of the information presented in these rooms — say, for example, specific details I learned about the failures of the Patriot missiles to intercept specific Scud attacks during the 1991 Gulf War — I would have been fired immediately and stripped of my clearances. That would have been just the beginning of my punishment.
I could expect to be prosecuted under 18 USC § 798 - Disclosure of classified information. That law provides that “Whoever knowingly and willfully communicates, furnishes, transmits, or otherwise makes available to an unauthorized person, or publishes, or uses in any manner prejudicial to the safety or interest of the United States or for the benefit of any foreign government to the detriment of the United States any classified information…shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both.”
Or perhaps 18 U.S. Code § 1924 - Unauthorized removal and retention of classified documents or material, with similar penalties. Or several other applicable laws.
I had heavy safes in my offices for classified material. Burn bags. Double-sealed packages for documents that could only be sent via special courier from office to office. Numerous times I would return to the office to make sure that I had locked the safe and securely stored all materials I had used during the day.
None of the top security officials in the Trump administration involved in a group chat over a commercial messaging app demonstrated such concerns. They not only shared highly classified information over an unsecured channel, not only allowed a reporter to be on the group chat, but they exchanged highly sensitive and demeaning views of our closest allies and debated the wisdom of attacking Yemen. None of them have demonstrated any remorse or concern.
Several of them have compounded their crimes by lying to Congress and to the public about their crimes, blatantly claiming in sworn testimony that the information was not classified and that they “could not recall” specifics of the chat.
At a minimum, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth should be fired for his gross disclosure of the attack details. At a minimum, National Security Advisor Michael Waltz should be fired for initiating the formation of the Principals Group on Signal and including Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic in that chat.
This may happen as the scandal builds, as the lies are exposed. Trump is trying to stonewall, deflect and attack. This routine usually works. But it may not this time. The incompetence is too gross, the double standard too transparent, the deflection (“but her emails”) too obvious, the attacks on one of the most respected journalists and magazines in the country too unbelievable.
If the Democrats maintain the focus and rigor that they have shown so far for just another few weeks, they can crack the wall of lies Trump and his national security team are struggling to erect. “This sloppiness, this disrespect for intelligence agencies is entirely unacceptable,” Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO) said at the Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Tuesday.
Now is the time for Democrats to show who are the real national security patriots.
You are exactly right, Joe! The clown show continues on a daily basis. It would be laughable if the long-term implications weren't so serious!
We know the law means nothing to this administration. Let's see if any Republicans in Congress have some lingering adherence to our legal system.