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Federal law requires that "Department of State employees with original or derivative classification authority for national security information must complete training on proper classification marking"
Contact: Jill Farrell, Judicial Watch, 202-646-5172
WASHINGTON, Oct. 29, 2015 /Standard Newswire/ -- Judicial Watch announced today that on October 16, 2015, it filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the U.S. Department of State to obtain records about Hillary Clinton's training on "making and marking" classified information. The lawsuit also seeks similar records for Clinton's top State Department aides Huma Abedin and Cheryl Mills. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of State (No. 1:15-cv-01696)).
President Obama issued an Executive Order in 2009 requiring all employees with "original" or "derivative" classification capability to take mandatory training. The requirement became federal law in 2010. The State Department subsequently created a course, "Classified and Sensitive but Unclassified Information: Making and Marking," to satisfy that requirement. Those employees with "original classification authority" who fail to take the course each year are supposed to have their classification authority suspended. State Department employees also are routinely denied access to classified and unclassified networks and systems for failure to complete this required training, according to Judicial Watch's investigation.
The Judicial Watch lawsuit was filed after the State Department failed to comply with two separate FOIA requests for information on the required classified training by Clinton, Mills, Abedin, and other covered State Department officials. Both requests were submitted on August 18, 2015. The first request sought:
- Records related to lists of employees required to complete the Foreign Service Institute course "Classified and Sensitive but Unclassified Information: Identifying and Marking" (PK323) either annually or biannually provided to A/GIS/IPS by the Office of the Secretary of State; and
- Records regarding reports of employees whose classification authority was suspended due to failure to complete FSI course PK323 as required provided to A/GIS/IPS by the Office of the Secretary of State.
The second August 18 Judicial Watch FOIA request sought:
- Records concerning the successful completion of the Foreign Service Institute (FSI) Course PK323, "Classified and Sensitive but Unclassified Information: Identification and Marking," by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Such records include, but are not limited to, any records identifying the training requirements for former Secretary Clinton, any reports from FSI indicating the completion of the course by former Secretary Clinton, and any transcripts or certificate of completion for PK323 provided by former Secretary Clinton to the designated bureau training official in the Office of the Secretary of State;
