Senator David Perdue demanded that the State Department revoke former Secretary Hillary Clinton’s security clearance for her "mishandling of classified information and for putting the United States at risk of irreparable injury."
“As the head of the State Department, Hillary Clinton was directly responsible for protecting sensitive information and ensuring her employees did the same, and she failed on both fronts,” said Senator Perdue. “Of all of the people involved in this scandal, Secretary Clinton should have known she was putting national security at risk and immediately stopped all non-secure communication involving classified information.
Secretary Clinton’s actions were a direct violation of the Sensitive Compartmented Information Nondisclosure Agreement she signed, but since the FBI has decided that Secretary Clinton is not subject to the law, at a minimum, her security clearance should be revoked.”
After a federal employee is briefed on how to handle classified information for a Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI) Clearance, they must sign a Sensitive Compartmented Information Nondisclosure Agreement. This agreement outlines the rules for handling classified information and the U.S. criminal laws governing SCI information.
Paragraph three of Secretary Clinton’s agreement states, “I have been advised that the unauthorized disclosure, unauthorized retention, or negligent handling of SCI by me could cause irreparable injury to the United States or be used to advantage by a foreign nation…I understand that it is my responsibility to consult with appropriate management authorities in the Department or Agency that last authorized my access to SCI, whether or not I am still employed by or associated with that Department or Agency or a contractor thereof, in order to ensure that I know whether information or material within my knowledge or control that I have reason to believe might be SCI.”
“I have been advised that any breach of this Agreement may result in my termination of my access to SCI and removal from a position of special confidence and trust requiring such access as well as termination of my employment or other relationships with any Department or Agency that provides me with access to SCI,” the agreement states.
Senator Perdue on Wednesday joined Senator Cory Gardner (R-CO) in introducing the Taking Responsibility Using Secured Technologies (TRUST) Act, S.3135, legislation that would revoke former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s security clearance as well as the security clearances of Secretary Clinton’s colleagues at the State Department who exhibited extreme carelessness in their handling of classified information.
Senator Perdue also wrote a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry calling on the State Department to suspend the security clearance for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her aides who were implicated in the FBI’s investigation.
Read the full text of the letter here.