[March 24, 2018] Just this past week the personal assistant to the President of the United States, John McEntee, was unceremoniously walked out of the White House and fired from his job.1 The reason given was that his security clearance could not be approved. Also, White House advisor Jared Kushner’s clearance was downgraded.2 The processes for obtaining and maintaining a security clearance is serious business, takes time to adjudicate, and requires several standards to be met before obtaining one.
There are reasons why security clearances are denied. That is what I will discuss here. As a matter of being upfront about this issue, I personally had an approved Department of Defense Top Secret clearance for many years. Like me, those who have clearances, especially high-level clearances, take the matter sincerely and are fully aware of those things that could cause our clearance to be revoked and why others fail to obtain them.
Here are the top reasons for a security clearance to be rejected or revoked:
- Criminal behavior: Not following the Rule of Law is a good indication that you will also not follow rules and regulations required to obtain and maintain a clearance. Denial could occur if you have committed a serious crime, multiple minor crimes, have a dishonorable discharge from the military (usually due to crimes committed in the military), associate with known criminals, or encourage criminal behavior in others.
- Drug and Alcohol Abuse: Drugs and alcohol impairs judgment. Investigators look for indications of drug and alcohol abuse; child or spousal abuse, arrests and convictions for driving under the influence, drug or alcohol use at work, public drunkenness, selling, using, manufacturing, or growing drugs or having drug paraphernalia. Technically it doesn’t matter when in the past this occurred but that could be less of a factor depending on the level of clearance.
- Financial Issues: This is more common that generally known. People who have a large amount of debt relative to what they earn, missed payments on loans, tax evasion, collection judgments, check fraud, foreclosures, embezzlement, excessive gambling, or bankruptcies can be a major reason for rejection or revocation. McEntee had his clearance denied due to “serious financial crimes.”
- Personal Issues: Your personal life matters; those things you do outside work. Mental health issues (although usually acceptable for some clearances if controlled by appropriate medication), relationships with other people, including relatives, friends, business associates, undisclosed foreign contacts, and relationships with shady characters. Also, habitual lying is also reflect negatively upon the clearance.
- Administrative Issues: When completing the required forms, if there is incomplete information, unexplained gaps in employment, residence, education, etc., incorrect social security numbers of self or spouse, missing relatives information, incomplete information on financial obligations which are delinquent, omitted references, unexplained drug usage, and a variety of incomplete or missing fingerprints, certifications, required government forms, etc.
Of course, any combination of factors listed here increases the chances of having a clearance application rejected or current clearance revoked or suspended.
There is a basic lesson here is that if you want a high level security clearance; work hard, develop friendships with good people, obey the law, fulfill your obligations, and don’t associate with unsavory characters.
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President Trump summed it up pretty well when he called Manning an “ungrateful TRAITOR.” https://www.cnn.com/2017/01/26/politics/trump-chelsea-manning-traitor-obama/index.html
I read about people who violate this all the time. THe US Army private Bradley Manning is a classic example of a liberal’s dream who gave away classified secrets then became a woman. What a screw up!
The average person does not understand the complexity of security clearances, nor should they. What people need to know is that there are very specific national security issues that must be protected for all of us. If something is being hidden for no reason, then there are officials who have the responsibility to make changes in a level of classification or complete declassification. But to list to the media try and explain it, is like listening to the ocean waves on the beach … woosh, woosh, woosh.
If you’ve ever had a security clearance, you know that there are specific reasons for protecting the information that is classified. It doesn’t matter if the classified material is “marked” or not; classified material (whether written, verbal, or electronic) remains classified and even if misclassified. There is never an excuse for misuse of or mishandling of classified information.
Our understanding of security clearances has been distorted by the news media (who have absolutely no clue about the subject) and the Hilliary Clinton scandal. Too many have attempted to explain a complex subject of which they know nothing about to folks like me who have no understanding of it. The end result was, as they wanted, confusion.
For those of us who have possessed a security clearance, at least at the SECRET level for a number of years, we fully understand our responsibilities to protect that information. It matters not what we personally think of the information but we are sworn to protect it. I have never known a person with a security clearance to not understand those responsibilities. Hillary Clinton’s refusal to admit this is mind-boggling. I can only believe she has repeatedly lied. This makes her look “stupid” as Army Captain would say.
All of this is true. The “bottom line” is … don’t be stupid!
That’s about all there is to it. The rest is details.