The Gorka Security Clearance Incident
Practice Focuses
Dr. Sebastian Gorka, the newly appointed Deputy Assistant to President Trump, was charged with a misdemeanor for carrying a weapon in an airport terminal on January 31, 2015. Gorka, who had been practicing with his 9mm pistol at the range more often as a result of death threats directed against his family, accidentally brought a bag with his unloaded gun in it to Reagan Washington National Airport. The pistol was detected by a TSA agent when Gorka’s bag was run through an X-Ray machine.
The Wall Street Journal has reported that the charge against Gorka, would not disqualify him from obtaining a security clearance if he revealed it to investigators. Gorka was honest about his mistake. He informed Trump’s adviser Steve Bannon and General Michael Flynn before he joined the National Security Council transition team. In addition, Gorka was forthcoming with details of the incident on his SF-86 security clearance application. The charge against Gorka was dropped on February 3, 2017.
So what’s the moral of the story, besides the fact that it’s good to have friends in high places?
Always tell the truth. While telling the truth cannot guarantee that you’ll maintain your security clearance, dishonesty all but guarantees the denial or revocation of your clearance.
http://www.007attorney.com/the-gorka-security-clearance-incident
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