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-Land of the Free
US senators look to overhaul security clearances after damaging documents leak
2023-05-12
[Jpost] The issue has been in the national spotlight with the arrest last month of Jack Teixeira,
...the somehow spoilt brat who managed not to understand discretion despite being a second generation intelligence guy, sharing copies of all sorts of interesting things with his international online gaming group...
a 21-year-old low-ranking member of the Air National Guard accused of taking advantage of his clearance.


Democratic and Republican US senators introduced legislation on Wednesday to overhaul the vast security clearance system for protecting national secrets, spurred by damaging document leaks allegedly by a 21-year-old airman and the discovery of classified materials at top officials' homes.

Led by Democratic Senator Mark Warner, chairman of the Senate intelligence committee, the lawmakers said the current system classifies far too many documents and gives access to secret information to far too many people.
Sounds good but I'm not convinced Warner is a good guy. At all.
"That combination of overclassification and then too many people having clearances has led us to this problem," Warner told a news conference. He said more than 4 million people in the United States now have security clearance.

Warner, fellow Democrat Ron Wyden and Republicans John Cornyn and Jerry Moran introduced two bills addressing the issue. Among other things, they would tighten the rules for deciding what would be classified and set a 25-year limit for how long most documents would stay that way.

"Our democracy, our ability to govern ourselves, depends on the public getting access to information about what our government is doing and what government officials are doing," Cornyn said, adding that he expected the effort would get broad support.

Attorney General Merrick Garland has also appointed special counsels to investigate the handling of classified records by Republican former President Donald Trump and the handling of classified records from his time as vice president by current Democratic President Joe Biden.

The path forward for the bills was not immediately clear but the senators said they hoped the recent attention on the clearance issue would help.

"This is a piece of legislation that can become law and it is desperately needed for that to happen," Moran said.
Related:
Mark Warner: 2023-05-05 Ukrainian Perspective: Invasion of Ukraine: May 4th, 2023
Mark Warner: 2023-02-06 Democrat Tim Kaine's Wife Denounces Declaration of Independence, Constitution as 'Fundamental in Enshrining Slavery'
Mark Warner: 2022-11-21 ‘Enormous Threat': Dem Senator Echoes Trump's Warning About CCP-Linked TikTok
Related:
Ron Wyden: 2023-04-23 Big Banks, Corporations Getting 90 Percent Of Biden's Green Energy Credits: Congressional Study
Ron Wyden: 2023-04-11 Too Late, AOC. The Anarchy You Call for Is Already Happening.
Ron Wyden: 2022-07-27 FBI Whistleblowers Allege FBI Scheme to Protect Hunter Biden and Joe Biden
Related:
John Cornyn: 2023-04-18 Republicans on Judiciary Committee Playing Hardball Over Replacing Feinstein
John Cornyn: 2023-04-14 Poll: Mitch McConnell's Approval Underwater as Retirement Rumors Swirl
John Cornyn: 2023-01-29 Trump Vows He Would Develop US Domestic 'Missile Shield' if Reelected in 2024
Related:
Jerry Moran: 2022-12-24 These 18 Senate Republicans Voted For Democrats' Sleazy $1.7 Trillion Spending Bill
Jerry Moran: 2020-05-08 Senate fails to override Trump veto on Iran war powers
Jerry Moran: 2019-03-15 Former ICE Chief: Senate Vote a ‘Morale-Killer' for Border Patrol and ICE
Related:
Jack Teixeira: 2023-04-28 Die Zeit: US eavesdropped on German Defense Ministry talks
Jack Teixeira: 2023-04-23 Ukrainian Perspective: Invasion of Ukraine: April 22nd, 2023
Jack Teixeira: 2023-04-22 FBI closes in on TWO DOZEN gamers in Pentagon leaker's Discord group - including RUSSIANS - as it emerges disgraced airman, 21, 'had been sharing files since Ukraine War started'
Posted by:Skidmark

#9  Also note following posting about Bidengate.

An out-of-control asset.
Posted by: Skidmark   2023-05-12 14:52  

#8  Furthermore, I doubt LHO has been the 'only' IC asset who has gone bad.

A very popular movie theme.

Just as an aside, one of the most significant challenges with the business of espionage and recruited agent handling is asset CONTROL.

Posted by: Skidmark   2023-05-12 14:48  

#7  /\ Somebody doesn't want us to know something. A blinding flash of the obvious of course.

My hunch has always been LHO was a double agent. The knowledge that a presidential assassin was on the payroll of the US Intelligence Community (IC) might still be viewed as unseemly, even by today's standards.

Ok, so call me a much older Alex Jones, but that's my hunch. Furthermore, I doubt LHO has been the 'only' IC asset who has gone bad.

Just as an aside, one of the most significant challenges with the business of espionage and recruited agent handling is asset CONTROL.

Posted by: Besoeker   2023-05-12 14:14  

#6  Still wondering why some of the JFK assassination files are still classified 60 years later???
Posted by: Tom   2023-05-12 13:20  

#5  Warner has a good deal of first hand knowledge of security violations so any legislation will have built in loopholes to facilitate his political shenanigans.
Posted by: Super Hose   2023-05-12 12:24  

#4  Computers/Automation (to include copy machines) can't be helping, either. We've come a long way from typing messages with an OCR ball on a DD 173/2 on an IBM Selectric II.
Posted by: DooDahMan   2023-05-12 08:22  

#3  Jimmy Carter made a declassification date mandatory on most intel material. It led to the under-classification of reports, to the detriment of no one. When he left office, the requirement ended.
Posted by: Slavising Unineting5672   2023-05-12 08:11  

#2  Way, way too much is classified and way, way too much classified is kept long beyond it need to be kept. Those people classifying the stuff are like our Fed just printing more and more money.
Posted by: Procopius2k   2023-05-12 07:23  

#1  PSI's sure catch a lot of spies/bad actors all the time. /sarc
Posted by: DooDahMan   2023-05-12 07:16  

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