Date: April 24, 2025
In March 2025, a journalist revealed that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had included them in a group chat discussing impending airstrikes in Yemen. Now, The Washington Post spoke with TELG principal R. Scott Oswald and other experts on how similar conduct in other cases would've impacted a person's security clearance. Mr. Oswald told the Post that others were denied or lost security clearance for conduct that was "far less serious."
Quoteworthy:
“These people had their security clearances either denied or revoked for conduct that was far less serious than this, what occurred with the Signal exchange."
R. Scott Oswald
» View on The Washington Post (Site requires paid subscription.)
[EXCERPT]
Hegseth defended his Signal leak. Others lost clearances for similar lapses.
One U.S. defense contractor set up a way to remotely access an office computer. Another forwarded 37 sensitive but unclassified work emails to a personal account. A third sent three emails with classified information to co-workers on an unauthorized system.
They all lost their federal security clearances as a result of the lapses, ending their work for the Pentagon.
The Washington Post reviewed hundreds of cases involving contractors alleged to have used unauthorized technology or mishandled sensitive government information — the same types of security violations that experts have said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth may have committed last month when he disclosed the details of impending airstrikes in Yemen using the commercial messaging platform Signal. Hegseth shared that information with a group that included top national security officials and a journalist from the Atlantic.
[…]
“These people had their security clearances either denied or revoked for conduct that was far less serious than this, what occurred with the Signal exchange,” said R. Scott Oswald, managing principal at the Employment Law Group, who represents workers who have lost security clearances. Oswald reviewed summaries of the cases identified by The Post.
Though the specific circumstances differ, Oswald and other experts who reviewed summaries of the cases at The Post’s request said they show how ordinary workers have lost security clearances for actions that in key respects are similar to Hegseth’s use of Signal.
» View on The Washington Post (Site requires paid subscription.)
