During an interview on Tuesday, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) said that he never took classified documents to his home. His comments came as the list continues to grow of top government officials who mishandled classified documents by taking them to and leaving them in unsecure locations.
Schiff, a former chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, made the comments during an interview with MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell, who asked if he had taken any classified documents home.
“This is what’s so astounding, I think, for all of us on the Intelligence Committee. I never take classified documents to my house,” Schiff said. “I don’t know any reason why people would.”
Schiff referred to a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF), which is a secure location where sensitive information can be viewed.
“I am so paranoid when I go into the SCIF and out of the SCIF to make sure I’ve got no electronics on the way in, that I’ve got nothing with me on the way out. I am very, very careful about it, and I would assume that everyone else is, but clearly there’s a problem here,” he said.
The exchange occurred the same day that a lawyer for former Vice President Mike Pence found about a dozen classified documents in his Indiana home. Former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden are already under federal investigation for their mishandling of classified documents.
According to Schiff, there is a “systemic problem” with how White House officials are handling classified materials.
Schiff’s comments came a day before the Associated Press released a report that found that the problem extends beyond White House officials.
“The mishandling of classified documents is a chronic problem at the highest levels of the U.S. government, one person familiar with the matter told the Associated Press,” the outlet reported. “At least several times a year, documents are located where they are not supposed to be and turned over to the National Archives.”
“It turns out former officials from all levels of government discover they are in possession of classified material and turn them over to the authorities at least several times a year, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of classified documents,” the report added. “Current and former officials involved in the handling of classified information say that while there are clear policies for how such information should be reviewed and stored, those policies are sometimes pushed aside at the highest levels. Teams of national security officials, secretaries and military aides who share responsibility for keeping top-level executives informed — and the executives themselves — may bend the rules for convenience, expediency or sometimes due to carelessness.”
Original article: https://thejeffreylord.com/adam-schiff-says-he-never-took-classified-documents-home/
