Photograph Source: Government of Thailand – CC BY 2.0
Fallout from the leaked Signal messages between top U.S. cabinet officials is just the latest in an increasing trend of carelessness surrounding national security issues. High-ranking officials who mishandle classified information go unpunished as the political class considers it too politically damaging to enforce harsh penalties. This negligence ensures there will be more careless mishandling in the future.
Neither party is eager to crack down on this issue, and the reason is as simple as human nature: keeping classified material on classified servers at all times takes longer and is less convenient. That’s precisely why several cabinet officials are now in hot water over their use of the app Signal for texting classified information. Yet whenever the party in charge gets caught cutting corners with security, their own come to their defense.
This isn’t a new pattern. During the 2016 presidential campaign, Democrats in the past rallied to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s defense, dismissing many accusations surrounding her use of a privately hosted email server as politically motivated. While they were damaging to her standing with the public, she ultimately was let off from any prosecution in 2016.
It’s clear with the benefit of hindsight—and to many at the time—that her behavior was not just a risk to national security, but illegal as well. Former FBI Director Jim Comey’s now-infamous statement during the summer of 2016admitted as much: “There is evidence to support a conclusion that any reasonable person in Secretary Clinton’s position, or in the position of those government employees with whom she was corresponding about these matters, should have known that an unclassified system was no place for that conversation.”
So, why wasn’t she charged? The FBI essentially focused on whether there was “intent” to break the law, as well as hesitation to recommend prosecution of the Democratic candidate for president.
This decision has haunted us ever since. Consequences for irresponsibly handling classified information are pointless if they’re never enforced, or only enforced when lower-level officials violate them. Secretary Clinton hired people to install a private server for her emails to be hosted in her basement—there is no shortage of “intent” there.
Similarly, several Trump officials knew better than to discuss war plans on an app like Signal. If you don’t believe me, you need look no further than Secretary Hegseth’s own words just a day ago: “Nobody’s texting war plans.” This, of course, turned out to be a lie.
And just like that, we’re back to discussing Hillary’s handling of her emails. Some have pointed out the hypocrisy of those who called for her prosecution yet defended Hegseth and Walz during this Signal-gate—and they’re right to do so. Others have pointed out the hypocrisy from the left in giving Hillary a free-pass and then calling for action now when the opposite party is in power. They are also right to do so.
Classified material is classified for a reason. Leaks from classified documents have real-world implications. Just look at the damaging fallout from organizations such as WikiLeaks.
National security and lives are at stake when classified information is mishandled, and it’s high time for both parties to hold themselves to account. A key component of Trump’s movement has always been anti-establishment rhetoric and action. Letting these cabinet officials off the hook simply because Hillary received more favorable treatment sends a clear message to future officials: Laws surrounding classified material are merely suggestions, so long as your party is in charge.
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This content originally appeared on CounterPunch.org and was authored by Kyle Moran.