Handling of Classified Documents

John R. “Buck” Surdu

The airwaves have been filled with pundits all week talking about the revelations about the poor handling of classified materials by President Biden. The Left is quick to defend this as no big deal, and the Right is quick to draw comparisons to Mar a Lago. Of course, we all know that equal protection under the law has become a farce. The ruling elitists, woke, and Marxist America haters are subject to significantly different standards than those of us who pay their salaries. I will point out a bit of the hypocrisy of Biden and his allies, but mostly I want to educate people about the reality of handling classified documents.

First, it was wrong for President Obama to hide classified documents in an unguarded, vacant warehouse in Virginia. It was wrong for Hillary to send classified Emails from an unguarded and insecure server in a closet. It was wrong for Sandy Berger to smuggle classified documents out of a SCIF in his socks. It was probably wrong for President Trump to store classified documents at Mar a Lago if he hadn’t formally declassified them first. It was wrong for President Biden to store classified documents in various completely insecure locations, like next to his car in his garage. These people were all wrong.

When trying to justify the unprecedented raid on Mar a Lago, Biden smugly mounted his high horse and chided Trump for being irresponsible. Now the Right is gloating over the Karma. If Trump was irresponsible – probably – Biden was criminal – certainly.

When the pundits talk about “classified at the highest levels,” they typically don’t know anything about the subject. Classification comes in three grades: Classified, Secret, and Top Secret. Classified information would “damage” national security if publicly disclosed without the proper authorization. Secret information would cause “serious damage” if publicly disclosed without the proper authorization. Top Secret information would cause “exceptionally grave damage.” But beyond Top Secret there are additional protections, such as Special Access Programs (SAP) and Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI).

For every classified document, there is a classification authority.  The CA sets the classification level of documents and has the authority to downgrade or declassify information at a later date.  Classification usually comes with a date in which the document will be automatically declassified. The President of the United States is the original classification authority (OCA) who may declassify any and all information.

By the way, when Clinton said that none of the documents she sent from her unsecured Email server were marked “classified,” she was prevaricating. No documents are marked “classified.” They are marked Confidential, Secret, or Top Secret, with perhaps other markings based on SAP for SCI. But not one of the talking heads in the Leftist media was willing to call her out on that falsehood.

I have had a security clearance for over 30 years and a Top-Secret clearance for over 25. Handling classified information is a significant trust and no joke. Those with access undergo training and inspections. Each paragraph of a classified document must be marked with its classification level. At one point, I held a TS/SCI clearance with about ten SCI compartments added. Some people treat working in a SCIF, a very secure area where you can work with classified information, as some badge of honor, like they were James Bond, but mostly it’s a pain in the neck. You must be constantly vigilant. This information is always need-to-know, so before talking to anyone about a particular piece of information, you must ensure that the other person is cleared for the information and has a need to know. Often when you are read into as many SCI programs as I was, I couldn’t remember which compartment what piece of information came from, so I had to be very, very careful. Even if the other person was cleared to all the same compartments, they might not have had a need-to-know.

Those of us not in the ruling class are constantly at risk of prison. Mishandling of even a single classified document, intentionally or unintentionally, can result in felony conviction and prison. Don’t believe me? This recently happened to a woman who took a document home during COVID to do some work. A visitor to her house saw it and reported it. She is now in jail. A couple of years ago, an employee was changing offices and transporting classified materials in his car from one building to another. He is now in jail.

The frustration for people I know who know the risks of mishandling classified information is that those rules only apply to minions, not to the ruling caste. After Mar a Logo, the rules only apply to the Leftist tribe of the ruling class.  Why should the elitists be able to break the law and jeopardize the nation without any repercussions?

After Mar a Lago, we learned that ex-presidents routinely retain classified information and that there is horse trading with the National Archives. Really?! Why did we ever allow that to be permitted? For that offense, everyone I know would have been jailed. Apparently, however, this was routinely winked at and never rose to the level of heavy-handed and theatrical raids or criminal prosecution until the weaponized DOJ chose to make an example of President Trump. This should never be allowed to happen. Not in the past, not in the present, not in the future. Not a box, bag, container, or pair of socks should be allowed out of the White House or the houses of cabinet secretaries, the vice president, or any other high-level government officials unless each and every box is inspected thoroughly. Not a single one.

But, let me digress for a moment. Of all the examples I cited, all were wrong. But of them, which was least wrong? Berger for intentionally smuggling classified documents out of a SCIF in his socks? Clinton, who willfully violated the law by sending classified information about US foreign policy from a server that any 13-year-old could hack? Obama, who left a bunch of classified documents unguarded in a vacant warehouse? Trump, who had known and inventoried documents – which he claims to have declassified without filling out the proper forms – in a locked room in a gated compound guarded by the Secret Service. The National Archives and Trump knew exactly which documents he had, none were unaccounted for and floating around. Or Biden who doesn’t even know what documents he has and had them scattered in various unsecured locations, like in his garage next to his Corvette?  Which situation calls for a theatrical raid?  One where the number and location of the documents is well known and where the documents are under lock and key?  Or one where documents are being discovered a few at a time in several completely insecure locations and a raid might establish the magnitude of the security breach and recover documents that Biden claims he doesn’t even know he had?

Berger, Clinton, Obama, Trump, Biden, and a host of others should be rotting in adjoining cells next to the woman who took a single document home. Or none of them should be in jail. The answer is that we need to start enforcing the laws uniformly for everyone. Period. The Constitution guarantees equal protection under the law for all citizens. All of them. Yet our government and our courts have made a mockery of that guarantee. The quadruple standards need to end. I can be sent to jail for unintentionally mishandling a single classified document. The ruling caste should be subject to at least the same punishment for intentionally doing so.

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