# Carrying classified material out of a SCIF

> **Source: KiriPedia** (https://www.kiripedia.org), the free encyclopedia and archive of former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou's on-record words. Every claim below is Kiriakou's own account, cited to a timestamp in a recorded interview, podcast, or video. KiriPedia is an independent project, not affiliated with Kiriakou.
>
> Cite as: "Carrying classified material out of a SCIF," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/carrying-classified-out-of-a-scif/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia.

*The two lawful procedures John Kiriakou describes for removing classified documents from a secure facility, a double-enveloped, double-marked package addressed to your home agency, or a leather bag with a double lock, and his flat statement that nothing about either allows a document to be forgotten in a garage for twelve years.*

- **Method one:** Sealed envelope, classification marked front and back, inside a second sealed envelope addressed to your home agency
- **Method two:** Envelope inside a leather bag with a double lock
- **Kiriakou's rule:** 'You have to make an effort to walk out with classified documents'

**Carrying classified material out of a SCIF** is, on [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/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.[1]

## 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."*[1][2]

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."*[2]

## Why it cannot be inadvertent

Against the official framing of the [2023 discoveries](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/2023-classified-documents-scandal) 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."*[3]

## See also

- [The 2023 classified documents scandal](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/2023-classified-documents-scandal)
- [Classification compartments](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/classification-compartments)
- [Espionage Act](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/espionage-act)

## Sources

1. Every Official Everywhere With Classified Documents (2023-01-28), at 11:39. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWTHWRbcuyI&t=699s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2023-01-28-kevin-gosztola-every-official-everywhere-with-classified-doc/
2. Every Official Everywhere With Classified Documents (2023-01-28), at 12:12. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWTHWRbcuyI&t=732s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2023-01-28-kevin-gosztola-every-official-everywhere-with-classified-doc/
3. Every Official Everywhere With Classified Documents (2023-01-28), at 12:44. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWTHWRbcuyI&t=764s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2023-01-28-kevin-gosztola-every-official-everywhere-with-classified-doc/

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From KiriPedia, the archive of John Kiriakou's words. Web version: https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/carrying-classified-out-of-a-scif/ · About: https://www.kiripedia.org/about/ · Full index: https://www.kiripedia.org/llms.txt