Security Clearance: Is this routine?

[Foxfyre]

Not sure what to make of this, but if it is accurate, then Hillary Clinton and at least six of her aides as Secretary of State had top level security clearance after Hillary stepped down as Secretary of State. And that would have included most or all of the campaign.

Is this usual? Should it be? Does this bother anybody?

When Hillary Clinton resigned as Secretary of State in 2013, she negotiated continuing access to classified and top-secret documents for herself and six staffers under the designation "research assistants," according to a powerful senator who notes that Clinton was later deemed "extremely careless" with such information.

The staff apparently retained access even after Clinton announced her run for president in April 2015, according to Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa. The access was ostensibly granted to facilitate work on Clinton's memoir, but Grassley said he was only able to verify it after the Obama administration left the White House.

“I have repeatedly asked the State Department whether Secretary Clinton and her associates had their clearances suspended or revoked to which the Obama Administration refused to respond,” Grassley wrote in a March 30 letter to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

“Recently, the State Department informed the Committee that six additional Secretary Clinton staff at State were designated as her research assistants which allowed them to retain their clearances after leaving the Department,” Grassley added. . .​

Hillary Clinton aides had access to State Dept. after she left, says key lawmaker

 

[SavannahMann]

Not sure what to make of this, but if it is accurate, then Hillary Clinton and at least six of her aides as Secretary of State had top level security clearance after Hillary stepped down as Secretary of State. And that would have included most or all of the campaign.

Is this usual? Should it be? Does this bother anybody?

When Hillary Clinton resigned as Secretary of State in 2013, she negotiated continuing access to classified and top-secret documents for herself and six staffers under the designation "research assistants," according to a powerful senator who notes that Clinton was later deemed "extremely careless" with such information.

The staff apparently retained access even after Clinton announced her run for president in April 2015, according to Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa. The access was ostensibly granted to facilitate work on Clinton's memoir, but Grassley said he was only able to verify it after the Obama administration left the White House.

“I have repeatedly asked the State Department whether Secretary Clinton and her associates had their clearances suspended or revoked to which the Obama Administration refused to respond,” Grassley wrote in a March 30 letter to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

“Recently, the State Department informed the Committee that six additional Secretary Clinton staff at State were designated as her research assistants which allowed them to retain their clearances after leaving the Department,” Grassley added. . .​

Hillary Clinton aides had access to State Dept. after she left, says key lawmaker

Actually yes. Former appointees are often consulted for information or asked to speak to someone with whom they have a good rapport. These are called back channel communications and are done mostly as feelers to find out what the other side really wants. It would be difficult to do if the person on our side didn't have a clearance.

 

[Foxfyre]

Not sure what to make of this, but if it is accurate, then Hillary Clinton and at least six of her aides as Secretary of State had top level security clearance after Hillary stepped down as Secretary of State. And that would have included most or all of the campaign.

Is this usual? Should it be? Does this bother anybody?

When Hillary Clinton resigned as Secretary of State in 2013, she negotiated continuing access to classified and top-secret documents for herself and six staffers under the designation "research assistants," according to a powerful senator who notes that Clinton was later deemed "extremely careless" with such information.

The staff apparently retained access even after Clinton announced her run for president in April 2015, according to Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa. The access was ostensibly granted to facilitate work on Clinton's memoir, but Grassley said he was only able to verify it after the Obama administration left the White House.

“I have repeatedly asked the State Department whether Secretary Clinton and her associates had their clearances suspended or revoked to which the Obama Administration refused to respond,” Grassley wrote in a March 30 letter to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

“Recently, the State Department informed the Committee that six additional Secretary Clinton staff at State were designated as her research assistants which allowed them to retain their clearances after leaving the Department,” Grassley added. . .​

Hillary Clinton aides had access to State Dept. after she left, says key lawmaker

Actually yes. Former appointees are often consulted for information or asked to speak to someone with whom they have a good rapport. These are called back channel communications and are done mostly as feelers to find out what the other side really wants. It would be difficult to do if the person on our side didn't have a clearance.

But their aides too?

 

[SavannahMann]

Not sure what to make of this, but if it is accurate, then Hillary Clinton and at least six of her aides as Secretary of State had top level security clearance after Hillary stepped down as Secretary of State. And that would have included most or all of the campaign.

Is this usual? Should it be? Does this bother anybody?

When Hillary Clinton resigned as Secretary of State in 2013, she negotiated continuing access to classified and top-secret documents for herself and six staffers under the designation "research assistants," according to a powerful senator who notes that Clinton was later deemed "extremely careless" with such information.

The staff apparently retained access even after Clinton announced her run for president in April 2015, according to Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa. The access was ostensibly granted to facilitate work on Clinton's memoir, but Grassley said he was only able to verify it after the Obama administration left the White House.

“I have repeatedly asked the State Department whether Secretary Clinton and her associates had their clearances suspended or revoked to which the Obama Administration refused to respond,” Grassley wrote in a March 30 letter to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

“Recently, the State Department informed the Committee that six additional Secretary Clinton staff at State were designated as her research assistants which allowed them to retain their clearances after leaving the Department,” Grassley added. . .​

Hillary Clinton aides had access to State Dept. after she left, says key lawmaker

Actually yes. Former appointees are often consulted for information or asked to speak to someone with whom they have a good rapport. These are called back channel communications and are done mostly as feelers to find out what the other side really wants. It would be difficult to do if the person on our side didn't have a clearance.

But their aides too?

Yes. Remember Bush had Clinton's ambassador who was retired ask questions about uranium in the region he had worked in before Bush took office. That was the genesis of the whole Plame deal.

 

[MarathonMike]

That is not correct. The State Department would be in direct violation of the DISCO requirement that a security clearance be active only in conjunction with a position with the State Department requiring classified information access.

When the person leaves the position they must be debriefed and the clearance suspended. You are not allowed to "walk around" with a security clearance with no current position requiring classified access.

 

[Foxfyre]

This is my understanding of how it is supposed to work:

. . .
What do the terms “active”, “current”, and “expired” Security Clearance mean?

An “active” clearance is one in which the candidate is presently eligible for access to classified information. A “current” clearance is one in which a candidate has been determined eligible for access to classified information but is not currently eligible without a reinstatement. A candidate has two years to remain on a “current” status before moving to an “expired” status. Both “active” and “current” clearances are easily transferred between employers. An “expired” clearance is one that has not been used in more than two years and cannot be reinstated. Once sponsored, the candidate must resubmit a clearance application and go forth with a new investigation. Individuals with expired clearances cannot be considered for jobs that require active or current clearances.. . .​

U.S. Government Security Clearances: Get the Facts | Veterans Today

 

[MarathonMike]

Given that we have the IRS, various intelligence agencies and the DOJ doing things they are clearly not supposed to do, I think it is likely the State Department ignored security rules in sustaining Hillary and her aids clearances after they left the State Dept. These problems are all part of "draining the swamp" that Trump will address. The heads of these departments and agencies need to be fired.

 

[Foxfyre]

Given that we have the IRS, various intelligence agencies and the DOJ doing things they are clearly not supposed to do, I think it is likely the State Department ignored security rules in sustaining Hillary and her aids clearances after they left the State Dept. These problems are all part of "draining the swamp" that Trump will address. The heads of these departments and agencies need to be fired.

The President is putting his own people in as heads of these agencies except for Comey at the FBI and I'm not sure what I think about him. But they can't just fire anybody in those agencies and start over. I wish they could because I suspect they are heavily infused with leftists, some unscrupulous enough to leak confidential information to whomever that are in allegiance with and who will assist his enemies to undermine Trump as much as possible.

 

[whitehall]

"Security clearance" doesn't mean access to security information.

 

[Bassman007]

Not sure what to make of this, but if it is accurate, then Hillary Clinton and at least six of her aides as Secretary of State had top level security clearance after Hillary stepped down as Secretary of State. And that would have included most or all of the campaign.

Is this usual? Should it be? Does this bother anybody?

When Hillary Clinton resigned as Secretary of State in 2013, she negotiated continuing access to classified and top-secret documents for herself and six staffers under the designation "research assistants," according to a powerful senator who notes that Clinton was later deemed "extremely careless" with such information.

The staff apparently retained access even after Clinton announced her run for president in April 2015, according to Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa. The access was ostensibly granted to facilitate work on Clinton's memoir, but Grassley said he was only able to verify it after the Obama administration left the White House.

“I have repeatedly asked the State Department whether Secretary Clinton and her associates had their clearances suspended or revoked to which the Obama Administration refused to respond,” Grassley wrote in a March 30 letter to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

“Recently, the State Department informed the Committee that six additional Secretary Clinton staff at State were designated as her research assistants which allowed them to retain their clearances after leaving the Department,” Grassley added. . .​

Hillary Clinton aides had access to State Dept. after she left, says key lawmaker

I have a full security clearance to Chucke Cheese

 

[Foxfyre]

"Security clearance" doesn't mean access to security information.

Then what does top level security clearance mean?

 

[Bassman007]

"Security clearance" doesn't mean access to security information.

Then what does top level security clearance mean?

Depends on what top level is being referred too. I find this dubious because Obama either fired her or ask her to leave because of the email scandal that had not yet broken in the public arena. Obama clearly knew she committed espionage

 

[Foxfyre]

"Security clearance" doesn't mean access to security information.

Then what does top level security clearance mean?

Depends on what top level is being referred too. I find this dubious because Obama either fired her or ask her to leave because of the email scandal that had not yet broken in the public arena. Obama clearly knew she committed espionage

I don't think that he did actually. She had enough time in it to be able to put a significant term as Secretary of State on her resume and she quit because she wasn't any good at it so it probably wasn't all that much fun. But mostly I think it was because it was her turn (again) to be President and she wanted plenty of time to get her campaign together. And she was probably wanting to get the Benghazi scandal swept under the rug well in advance of the actual campaign too and that wasn't going to happen as long as she was still in the position.

 

[task0778]

"Security clearance" doesn't mean access to security information.

Then what does top level security clearance mean?

In order to gain access to a classified document you need 2 things:

1. A security clearance at or above the level of classification pertinent to the specific document in question, and
2. A need to know the information in that document to perform your duties.

If you are assigned to a position that requires you to access classified data, you have to go through a background check. They check your past history, to include but not limited to where you've been, who you've been associating with, your financial and personal history, etc., to see if there's any reason you might be a security risk. And it takes awhile to get that clearance, it doesn't happen in a few weeks, although it might if your name is Hillary Clinton. For most people it could take 6 -12 months; they are thorough. They talk to previous friends, neighbors, co-workers, bosses, subordinates.

So, if you pass that you now have a security clearance. But that doesn't mean you now have access to every classified document or data that is equal to or less than your security clearance. Somebody higher up has to declare in writing than you need to gain access to a piece of classified data or group of data. Being the SoS, Hillary had total access to everything I would guess, and President Obama would be the only one who can give her that kind of access.

Once she left her job as SoS she should not have been given access to any further classified data because it would no longer have been her job to see that information or act on it. Her clearance may not have expired yet, so she may have had a current security clearance but NOT a need to know anything that is classified. So she should not have been privy to anything classified.