Carrying classified material out of a SCIF
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Carrying classified material out of a SCIF is, on John Kiriakou's account, a deliberate and heavily marked act with exactly two permitted forms, which is why he rejects the idea that classified documents leave secure facilities by accident.

The two methods

The first is packaging. "You have to put it in an envelope, seal it, mark the classification on the front and back of the envelope, put it in another envelope, seal it again, and then put the address of your home agency on it. And then you carry it with you, and God help you, you better not drop it or lose it or leave it somewhere."

The second is the courier bag: "your agency puts it in a leather bag with a double lock on it, and you put it in an envelope and then put the envelope in the leather bag and lock it and take it back to your agency."

Why it cannot be inadvertent

Against the official framing of the 2023 discoveries as inadvertent, Kiriakou set his own experience: "I've honestly never heard of somebody just walking out of a SCIF with classified documents and just kind of forgetting about it for, you know, 12 years, and just finding it in his garage in a box. That's just not, that doesn't happen in real life."

See also

- The 2023 classified documents scandal
- Classification compartments
- Espionage Act
