It's possible that I just plain missed it, but I hadn't seen this published anywhere in the news other than @ the FAS website.
In the wake of the Snowden revelations back in early June, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence issued a revised edition of the standard Classified Information Nondisclosure Agreement. (Standard Form 312 or SF 312) It is a binding legal agreement that must be signed by each of the nearly 5 million people who are cleared for access to classified information. Signing the form affirms that any unauthorized disclosure of classified material could...
“... cause damage or irreparable injury to the United States” and “may constitute a violation… of United States criminal laws.”
The
revised SF312 included some language that did not appear in
previous versions of the Form. All of paragraph 10 and portions of paragraph 11 are new, as are references to the 2009
executive order 13526 on classification. But these passages mainly reflect newly enacted statutes such as the
2012 Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act, and do not themselves impose any new obligations.
Ok, on its surface, not much out of the ordinary here. After all, the WPEA had to be incorporated into the new non-disclosure agreement. But there is something out of the ordinary about the issuance in general.
First, a short recap of the lie Clapper told Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon at the hearing.
(sorry, I wasn't able to embed the video)
Here's CBS's coverage of the aftermath of Clapper's blatant prevarication last month. WH defends DNI director Clapper after congressional testimony draws fire.
But here's the extraordinary part.
What is perhaps more significant is the fact that for the first time the new Nondisclosure Agreement was issued by the Director of National Intelligence rather than the Information Security Oversight Office, as in the past. It is an expression of the DNI’s elevated status as Security Executive Agent. (my emphasis)
Damn, I must have missed the memo.
Secrecy News (FAS Project on Government Secrecy) published the story on August 1st.
Essentially, James Clapper went from handling the issuance of all national security clearances in the so-called "intelligence community" before he lied to Congress -- to now handling every national security clearance in the federal government after he lied.
As Security Executive Agent, the DNI is responsible for security policy not only in the Intelligence Community but across the executive branch. He now sets policies governing access to classified information — eligibility, background investigations, clearances, reciprocal recognition, and so forth — for employees of all government agencies. And effective immediately, all personnel who are cleared for access to classified information will be expected to sign the DNI-prescribed non-disclosure form even if their work is unrelated to intelligence.
The thing is, back in June when Clapper
announced (pdf) the new security clearance protocol no mention was made about it being applicable to all government agencies across the spectrum.
Somehow, the troubling image of George Tenet, Norman Podhoretz and Paul Bremer all being awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom after the "intelligence failures" of the Iraq war debacle were well known in 2004 just popped into my head.
So, is a medal on the horizon for Clapper?
Don't bet against it.
If so inclined, you can donate to the FAS Project on Government Secrecy here.