Report: Gonzales Mishandled Classified Data
Former attorney general Alberto R. Gonzales told investigators he did not remember whether he took home notes regarding the government's most sensitive national security programs and did not know they contained classified information despite notations on the papers that they were "eyes only -- top secret," according to a report released this morning.
The Justice Department's inspector general concluded that Gonzales had improperly handled materials about the government's most sensitive national security programs, carrying the notes home in an unlocked briefcase for an "indeterminate" period of time. Gonzales failed to keep them in a safe at his Northern Virginia home because he "could not remember the combination," according to the report.
A National Security Agency official who reviewed the notes told investigators that at least one item in the documents was "zealously protected" by the NSA and that designating the papers as highly classified was "not a close call," the report said.
Improper handling of classified material can result in criminal charges, but prosecutors in the department's National Security Division declined to bring a case after reviewing the allegations and consulting with senior career officials at Justice, according to the report and lawyers involved in the case.
During his government service, Gonzales received at least two briefings on security procedures and signed a nondisclosure form indicating that negligent handling of sensitive information "could cause irreparable injury to the United States or be used to advantage by a foreign nation."
The notes involve some of the government's most secret initiatives, including a warrantless wiretapping program and other top-secret eavesdropping methods. Investigators did not find any evidence that the information had been shared with or seen by people who lacked the proper clearance to review it, though employees at Justice had "regular" access to some of the materials, the report said.
The investigation initially began after allegations emerged that Gonzales, then the White House counsel, had failed to protect notes that he took during a March 2004 meeting between President Bush and congressional leaders in the White House Situation Room, as a program that allowed authorities to secretly monitor communications for evidence of terrorist plots was set to expire.
Former attorney general Alberto R. Gonzales told investigators he did not remember whether he took home notes regarding the government's most sensitive national security programs and did not know they contained classified information despite notations on the papers that they were "eyes only -- top secret," according to a report released this morning.
The Justice Department's inspector general concluded that Gonzales had improperly handled materials about the government's most sensitive national security programs, carrying the notes home in an unlocked briefcase for an "indeterminate" period of time. Gonzales failed to keep them in a safe at his Northern Virginia home because he "could not remember the combination," according to the report.
A National Security Agency official who reviewed the notes told investigators that at least one item in the documents was "zealously protected" by the NSA and that designating the papers as highly classified was "not a close call," the report said.
Improper handling of classified material can result in criminal charges, but prosecutors in the department's National Security Division declined to bring a case after reviewing the allegations and consulting with senior career officials at Justice, according to the report and lawyers involved in the case.
During his government service, Gonzales received at least two briefings on security procedures and signed a nondisclosure form indicating that negligent handling of sensitive information "could cause irreparable injury to the United States or be used to advantage by a foreign nation."
The notes involve some of the government's most secret initiatives, including a warrantless wiretapping program and other top-secret eavesdropping methods. Investigators did not find any evidence that the information had been shared with or seen by people who lacked the proper clearance to review it, though employees at Justice had "regular" access to some of the materials, the report said.
The investigation initially began after allegations emerged that Gonzales, then the White House counsel, had failed to protect notes that he took during a March 2004 meeting between President Bush and congressional leaders in the White House Situation Room, as a program that allowed authorities to secretly monitor communications for evidence of terrorist plots was set to expire.
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