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In reply to the discussion: More trouble for Petraeus, it looks like....Petraeus staff investigated over Broadwell access [View all]TorchTheWitch
(11,065 posts)That's what her having clearance means - she was cleared to have access to the classified docs. HOwever, she was only cleared to review them and still had to keep them secure from others who did not have the appropriate clearance level. Her having them in her home in unlocked boxes and on her personal computer MAY be at issue. Apparently it depends on exactly what type of classified materials she had in her home and on her computer that is still being figured out, and it probably has a lot to do with what level of classification each document was.
Petreaus and her claiming he didn't give her any classified docs likely means that he didn't physically hand them to her or personally send them to her personal email and merely told his staff to do it. He had subordinates take care of providing her with whatever docs she had, and if they let her take them out of the secured area (if there was one) and had no idea how she was securing them herself, then those subordinates are partially to blame for her having them unsecured (again, IF any that she had could not be secured in her home or on her personal computer). THis could also make Petreaus partially at fault (and actually ultimately at fault since he was the top honcho) if he didn't make sure his staff knew and that she knew that she couldn't keep them unsecured at whatever security level was appropriate for each document.
Petreaus very well could have lied to the FBI in claiming he didn't give her any classified docs personally, but he is just as liable for telling his staff to do it for him anyway. I don't believe that Broadwell and Petreaus's staff members would have forgotten all about how the docs were to be secured without his letting it be known that she could keep them where she liked. Why else would all of these people so blithely ignored their security?