By Rick Manning
A U.S.-Turkish dual citizen, who somehow was granted a Top Secret Clearance as a civilian Pentagon employee at the Joint Warfare Analysis Center was arrested leaving the country with classified documents in his possession. The Obama appointed federal magistrate judge, Ivan Davis, denied prosecutors requests that the accused be released and subjected to home detention pending trial.
What the heck? Has our system of justice gone so far awry that the fact that someone was leaving the country with illegally held Top Secret documents (with other classified documents found in his home) is not in the clink awaiting trial, while sight-seeing grandmas and grandpas who took selfies in the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 were hunted down and held for months and years while unconstitutionally being charged with an obstructing Congress claim is beyond ridiculous.
In fairness to the Department of Justice, they did request keeping the probable spy in detention, but the federal magistrate effectively set him free saying, “too far of a leap” to tie the illegal possession and attempted transport of classified documents to a foreign nation as being a strong mishandling of documents claim.
America knows quite a bit about the handling of classified documents given the on-going prosecution of former President Donald Trump, which included an attention seeking full-blown FBI raid on his home in Mar-a-Lago. The bogged down prosecution ultimately and largely comes down to the question of whether a President of the United States can declassify documents, with the obvious answer being yes, that power is an Article II constitutional power of the unitary executive.
We have also seen a former U.S. Senator and Vice President, who currently serves as President be found to have a treasure trove of classified documents illegally taken prior to his becoming President, stored everywhere from his garage to a Chinese government paid for office at a University of Pennsylvania branch in Washington, D.C. being absolved from prosecution due to his feeblemindedness.
But this is the first time we have seen a man caught leaving the country with classified documents not being treated like a national security threat. After all, he was only copying documents detailing war planning and attempting to smuggle them to Mexico.
Beyond this absurd judicial decision, which is being appealed, other questions arise.
Who gave a Top Secret clearance to a Pentagon employee who has only been a citizen of the United States since 2021, maintaining dual citizenship with his native country? The question arises, should a foreign citizen even be eligible to work with, let alone handle Top Secret documents regardless of whether he or she also became an American citizen.
Should the just-reappointed federal magistrate be forced off the bench for this ruling that clearly demonstrates his inability to discern the difference between accidentally putting the wrong file in your briefcase (which is still prosecuted aggressively) from actively copying confidential documents after hours and then seeking to take them overseas.
Sunday newspapers across America used to have a magazine insert which included various general interest columns. One of these was directly named, “Can this Marriage be Saved?” After learning that a federal magistrate can’t even identify a clear case of espionage when put right before him and keep the presumed innocent accused in prison before his trial, one wonders if a country that has apparently lost its will to live can be saved?
Rick Manning is the President of Americans for Limited Government.
