A Failure of Investigation

I've been through the process several times, and you're always told that omissions will almost certainly disqualify you even more than embarrassing disclosures will.

The Washington Navy Yard shooter lied about a previous arrest and failed to disclose thousands of dollars in debts when he applied for a security clearance in the Navy.

Then federal investigators dismissed the omissions, and made one of their own — deleting any reference to Aaron Alexis' use of a gun in that arrest.

The gaps in his record eventually allowed him to work in the secure Navy building where he gunned down 12 workers last week, underscoring weaknesses with the clearance process that Navy officials are targeting for change.

some of the details

When a check of Alexis' fingerprints disclosed the Seattle police incident, it triggered a follow-up interview for the security clearance. An OPM memo about the interview included multiple questions about debts he failed to pay and problems with collection agencies. In each case, the memo noted that Alexis was having financial troubles, was arranging repayment plans and only he and his mother knew of the debts.

"The subject does not feel that knowledge of any of his financial issues could be used against him for blackmail or coercion," the memo said.

The fact that Alexis did not disclose the debts on his security form was dismissed in the memo, which noted that he answered "no" to the questions because he was working on payment plans and thought the issues would be resolved. He also answered "no" to questions about his police record, including whether he had been arrested, charged, convicted or issued a summons, citation or ticket to appear in court in a criminal proceeding.

The OPM memo said Alexis told the investigator he answered "no" to those questions "because the charge was dismissed and he was told by Connell (his attorney) that the charge would be removed from his record."

You don't leave out shit. You tell them everything and you tell them that charges were dismissed, or reduced, or whatever.

But my real question is this: why was he granted a clearance when the investigators were able to verify that he'd omitted details from his background? WTF?!

By: Brant