White House Security: A "Systemic Failure"

by Steve

At a time when a new Zogby poll shows that over half the country now disapproves of Bush’s handling of terrorism and nearly half are now against the administration’s domestic monitoring of Americans in the name of security, Henry Waxman gathers evidence that the White House has mishandled classified information and ignores security breaches.

Current and former employees of the White House Security Office have reported to Chairman Waxman that there was a systemic failure at the White House to follow procedures for protecting classified information. According to the security officers, the White House regularly ignored security breaches, prevented security inspections of the West Wing, and condoned mismanagement of the White House Security Office.

[snip]

The security officers described multiple instances of security breaches that were reported to the White House Security Office by concerned officials, such as Secret Service agents, but ignored by the White House Security Office. Several of the security violations involved mishandling of “Sensitive Compartmentalized Information” (SCI), the highest level of classified information, such as leaving SCI materials unattended in a hotel room.

It’s easy to see why destroying Valerie Plame and Brewster Jennings and letting Jeff Gannon run free inside the White House without security checks was of no concern to these guys. They blow off the concerns from the Secret Service and leave sensitive documents in hotel rooms, so who knows how many times our country has been compromised by the Bush White House.

Hat tip to Jesse Lee at The Gavel