Top Secret is a more stringent clearance. A Top Secret, or "TS", clearance, is often given as the result of a Single Scope Background Investigation, or SSBI. Top Secret clearances, in general, afford one access to data that affects national security, counterterrorism/counterintelligence, or other highly sensitive data.In brief, why would a security clearance be denied?
According to Dennis Copeland for Quora:
...... essentially any serious contact with law enforcement (beyond routine traffic offenses); any observed problems with alcohol or drugs (discovered through interviews with friends, neighbors, others); erratic behavior; untrustworthy behavior; ties to, or close family in foreign lands; and debt/money problems are among the most frequent reasons for disqualifying someone.
If there is any doubt as to why such criteria exist, think in terms of blackmail and proven untrustworthiness. Think about the person whose life is consumed with issues of money. Think about the person who would sell her/his soul for a few thousand dollars. Or, in days of old think about being LGBTQ and hiding your life from general knowledge.
The following WIKI list of l convicted spies without a doubt includes people who operated as spies for money or were coerced into spying based factors of their lives.
Name | Nationality | Summary | Conviction Date | Penalty |
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Aldrich Ames | American | Convicted of spying for the Soviet Union and Russia | 1994 | Life sentence (without parole) |
David Sheldon Boone | American | Sold secret documents to the Soviet Union and is estimated to have received $60,000 from the KGB | February 26, 1999 | 24 Years and 4 Months |
Marthe Cnockaert | Belgian | Convicted for spying for the United Kingdom and its allies during the First World War | November 1916 | Life sentence (released 2 years later) |
James Hall III | American | Signals analyst who sold eavesdropping and code secrets to East Germany and the Soviet Union from 1983 to 1988 | July 20, 1989 | 40-year sentence |
Robert Hanssen | American | Spied for Soviet and Russian intelligence services against the United States from 1979 to 2001 | July 6, 2001 | Life sentence (without parole) |
Ana Montes | American | Convicted for conspiracy to commit espionage for the government of Cuba | October 2002 | 25-year prison term followed by five years probation |
Harold James Nicholson | American | twice-convicted spy for Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service | June 5, 1997 | 23 years 7-month sentence |
Stewart Nozette | American | Attempted espionage and fraud against the United States | 2009 | 13-year sentence |
Ronald Pelton | American | Spied for and sold secret documents to the Soviet Union. Was known to have a photographic memory and as such never passed any physical documents on. | 1983 | Life sentence (Released November 24, 2015) |
Earl Edwin Pitts | American | Accused of spying for the Soviet Union and Russia, and pleaded guilty to conspiring and attempting to commit espionage | 1997 | 27-year sentence |
Jonathan Pollard | American | Passed classified information to Israel while working as an American civilian intelligence analyst | 1987 | Life sentence |
George Trofimoff | American | Convicted for spying for the Soviet Union during the 1970s and 1980s | September 27, 2001 | Life sentence |
John Anthony Walker | American | Convicted of spying for the Soviet Union from 1968 to 1985 | 1985 | Life sentence |
Ugly eh? John Anthony walker actually recruited his son into the trade.
John Anthony Walker
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...John Anthony Walker Jr. (July 28, 1937 – August 28, 2014) was a United States Navychief warrant officer and communications specialist convicted of spying for the Soviet Union from 1968 to 1985.[2]
...In the June 2010 issue of Naval History Magazine, John Prados, a senior fellow with the National Security Archive in Washington, D.C., pointed out that after Walker introduced himself to Soviet officials, North Korean forces seized USS Pueblo in order to make better use of Walker's spying. Prados added that North Korea subsequently shared information gleaned from the spy ship with the Soviets, enabling them to build replicas and gain access to the U.S. naval communications system, which continued until the system was completely revamped in the late 1980s.[6]John Walker was turned into authorities via his wife.
If you have a few extra mintues checkout this link with Americans who spied for other naitons.
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If the importance of security clearances and the risk to the nation isn't clear to you, you also may not realize as Donald Trump's hairdo is a comb-over. Well, I could have used other analogies but some would require far too much linking and verbiage (e.g, Trump: bigotry, lying, indecency, Putin stooge).
Why would the election of Donald Trump take the nation to what follows? Meet Tricia Newbold, an 18-year government employee.
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Tricia Newbold
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This past January Ms. Newbold was suspended from her White House position for defying orders to issue a security clearance to a few Trump officials despite FBI background security concerns. Jared Kushner is reported to have received clearances without regard for cautions from the FBI.
Celeb Daily News posted a video segment on Youtube which captures the released of Ms. Newbold while clearly stating issues related to Kushner's clearance.
The full scope of the lax security process from Trump's White House is delineated via this NBC News report.
White House whistleblower says Trump administration overturned 25 ..
When will the nation come to its senses and act as if it has had enough?
The obvious is obvious.