Executive Director John Tierney wrote an op-ed in the Boston Globe about the recent string of classified documents being found in the homes of former administration officials and a classification issue many people don’t know about.
The recent string of reports about classified documents being discovered at the homes of former president Donald Trump, President Biden, and former vice president Mike Pence should make two truths abundantly clear: first, there is a difference between deliberately taking and hiding documents and inadvertently retaining them, and second, this country’s classification system is in critical need of reform; indeed, national security demands it.
It is not uncommon for former officials from all levels of government to discover they are in possession of classified material. Most turn it over to the appropriate authorities without incident.
This process of returning documents was not overwhelming for me when I served on a congressional intelligence committee, but the task gets exponentially more intense for those whose access spans longer intervals or whose position invites access and usage of multiple more materials. Read more (paywall)
