Leaders elected to top offices in the US must take an oath to keep the country's national secrets in perpetuity — but the physical documents pertaining to that intelligence, especially when marked Top Secret, should not be taken home after leaving office.
Former vice president Mike Pence's lawyers on Tuesday announced that about a dozen classified documents had been found in his home, days after the Department of Justice obtained government files during an FBI search of President Joe Biden's Delaware residence.
And those discoveries come after the US government revealed former president Donald Trump had held on to hundreds of classified documents after his presidency ended.
The back-to-back revelations are ringing alarm bells about the lax security around highly sensitive documents that could threaten foreign relations, national security and even the lives of covert operatives.
“Countries should be alarmed that we are failing to properly safeguard national secrets,” University of Michigan Law professor and former US prosecutor Barbara McQuade told The National.
“Long term, a failure by the US government to safeguard the secrets of our allies could result in their refusal to share secrets with us, which will further harm our own national security.”
Earlier, Mr Biden's lawyers had contacted the Department of Justice to hand over the classified documents found in his home and former office. As a result, a rare federal investigation was opened into a current US president who may run for re-election in 2024.
What's happening with Joe Biden and the classified material discovery? - video
“It is unlikely that Biden will be prosecuted because there is no evidence that he knowingly and wilfully possessed the classified documents,” Chicago lawyer Renato Mariotti, who oversaw federal investigations as a prosecutor, told The National.
The “loss or removal of national defence information” would have to involve “gross negligence” for a person to be charged under the US Espionage Act, he said, which is “almost never prosecuted”.
“It doesn’t look like that evidence exists here,” Mr Mariotti said.
The findings come as Mr Trump is embroiled in a federal investigation into a potential obstruction of justice due to his possession of hundreds of classified documents after his presidency ended.
In an ABC News/Ispos survey, a majority of Americans said Mr Biden and Mr Trump inappropriately handled classified documents, and most regarded Mr Trump's actions as more serious.
“With both Mr Pence and President Biden appearing to offer co-operation in the return of the classified records, Mr Trump is increasingly alone on a legal island with his documented obstructive actions prior to the raid on Mar-a-Lago,” Bradley Moss, a lawyer in Washington, told The National.
More commonplace than previously thought
With differences in co-operation and intent in Mr Trump's case aside, the discoveries at Mr Biden's and Mr Pence's residences “suggest that accidentally retaining documents is not as rare as we thought”, Ms McQuade said.
The Associated Press reported on Tuesday that authorities regularly receive documents inadvertently taken by former officials, highlighting a bigger problem that many in the US are unfamiliar with.
Former president Jimmy Carter, for example, reportedly found classified materials at his home at least once and returned them to the National Archives.
“However, we should expect our leaders to treat national secrets with care, and these lapses may tend to diminish public confidence in Biden,” Ms McQuade said.
The revelations may say more about how organised — or rather disorganised — transfers of power in the US are.
“These matters suggest that Congress should consider conducting oversight and appropriate legislation to ensure that classified materials are not mishandled in connection with future presidential transitions,” Mr Mariotti declared.
They also show potential holes in governance over national security information.
“Our government needs to do a better job of controlling access to classified documents,” Ms McQuade said. “A chain of custody should be maintained, and all documents returned or destroyed when the reader is done reading them.”
'Over-classification'
The Public Interest Declassification Board at the National Archives said in a tweet last week: “Another scandal regarding classified material: There's too much of it.”
“The classification system as a whole is clearly in disrepair,” Mr Moss, experienced in national security and security clearance law, told The National.
“There is simply too much classified information floating around and it is not possible to properly manage all of it without spillage. If ever there was a bipartisan moment to truly consider the need for better oversight and reform of that system, one would hope that now is that moment.”
The board in 2020 presented options for simplifying classification tiers and allowing automation to help the agency manage the mammoth of documents it handles.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
BMW%20M4%20Competition
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KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
BMW M5 specs
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
Power: 727hp
Torque: 1,000Nm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh650,000
Read more about the coronavirus
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
THE LIGHT
Director: Tom Tykwer
Starring: Tala Al Deen, Nicolette Krebitz, Lars Eidinger
Rating: 3/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors
Power: Combined output 920hp
Torque: 730Nm at 4,000-7,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel consumption: 11.2L/100km
On sale: Now, deliveries expected later in 2025
Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000
Karwaan
Producer: Ronnie Screwvala
Director: Akarsh Khurana
Starring: Irrfan Khan, Dulquer Salmaan, Mithila Palkar
Rating: 4/5
Company%C2%A0profile
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
T20 World Cup Qualifier
Final: Netherlands beat PNG by seven wickets
Qualified teams
1. Netherlands
2. PNG
3. Ireland
4. Namibia
5. Scotland
6. Oman
T20 World Cup 2020, Australia
Group A: Sri Lanka, PNG, Ireland, Oman
Group B: Bangladesh, Netherlands, Namibia, Scotland
The biog
First Job: Abu Dhabi Department of Petroleum in 1974
Current role: Chairperson of Al Maskari Holding since 2008
Career high: Regularly cited on Forbes list of 100 most powerful Arab Businesswomen
Achievement: Helped establish Al Maskari Medical Centre in 1969 in Abu Dhabi’s Western Region
Future plan: Will now concentrate on her charitable work
Company profile
Date started: January, 2014
Founders: Mike Dawson, Varuna Singh, and Benita Rowe
Based: Dubai
Sector: Education technology
Size: Five employees
Investment: $100,000 from the ExpoLive Innovation Grant programme in 2018 and an initial $30,000 pre-seed investment from the Turn8 Accelerator in 2014. Most of the projects are government funded.
Partners/incubators: Turn8 Accelerator; In5 Innovation Centre; Expo Live Innovation Impact Grant Programme; Dubai Future Accelerators; FHI 360; VSO and Consult and Coach for a Cause (C3)
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
More on Quran memorisation:
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
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The details
Colette
Director: Wash Westmoreland
Starring: Keira Knightley, Dominic West
Our take: 3/5
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KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
The specs
Engine: 5.2-litre V10
Power: 640hp at 8,000rpm
Torque: 565Nm at 6,500rpm
Transmission: 7-speed dual-clutch auto
Price: From Dh1 million
On sale: Q3 or Q4 2022
The%20specs
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Company%20Profile
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Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
Six large-scale objects on show
- Concrete wall and windows from the now demolished Robin Hood Gardens housing estate in Poplar
- The 17th Century Agra Colonnade, from the bathhouse of the fort of Agra in India
- A stagecloth for The Ballet Russes that is 10m high – the largest Picasso in the world
- Frank Lloyd Wright’s 1930s Kaufmann Office
- A full-scale Frankfurt Kitchen designed by Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, which transformed kitchen design in the 20th century
- Torrijos Palace dome
From Zero
Artist: Linkin Park
Label: Warner Records
Number of tracks: 11
Rating: 4/5
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Electric scooters: some rules to remember
- Riders must be 14-years-old or over
- Wear a protective helmet
- Park the electric scooter in designated parking lots (if any)
- Do not leave electric scooter in locations that obstruct traffic or pedestrians
- Solo riders only, no passengers allowed
- Do not drive outside designated lanes
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
How to help
Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
2289 – Dh10
2252 – Dh 50
6025 – Dh20
6027 – Dh 100
6026 – Dh 200
