An unnamed woman was recently denied a top-secret security clearance by the Defense Department’s Office of Hearings and Appeals. The decision was based on her close relation to an authoritarian dictator of an unnamed hostile country referred to as 'Country X' in the document.
The administrative judge handling the case deemed the situation extraordinary due to the woman's familial ties to a person considered extremely dangerous and hostile to the United States. The judge highlighted that Country X supports international terrorism, conducts cyberattacks, and espionage against the US.
The applicant, in her 30s, is married to a US-born American citizen and has been employed by defense contractors for several years. She and her family immigrated to the US in the 1990s, becoming US citizens and severing ties with relatives in Country X.
Despite the family's name change upon arrival in the US, the woman's mother still harbors fears of potential retaliation. The woman currently holds a secret security clearance, with no prior concerns raised regarding her handling of sensitive information.
This case sheds light on the stringent security measures in place to safeguard classified information, with over 1.2 million individuals holding top-secret security clearances as of October 2017. The denial of clearance to the woman underscores the government's commitment to ensuring national security and preventing unauthorized access to sensitive data.
