In looking at the Rob Porter hot-mess, the "interim security clearance" business is very disturbing. Having worked at the White House -- including for the staff secretary -- this feels to be a pretty telling breach.
First, gov't jobs eligible for Interim Security can only be designated "National Security/ Non-Critical Sensitive" or "National Security/Critical Sensitive." An Interim Security cannot be given for a Special Sensitive job (which requires Top Secret/SCI)
It's hard to imagine that the person who manages the paper flow to the Oval does not have TS/SCI level clearance. That would require the NSC staff to navigate around the staff secretary, rather than thru him/her.
Second, Interim Security Clearances are temporary, 180 days with option for extension (another 180 days). Porter appears to have started on 1/20/17. Assuming he was given that "interim" on Day 1, it would have expired 1/15/18.
Third, the fact that John Kelly -- a former military officer -- would not have seen this problem is mind blowing. The "SCI" marker refers to "sensitive compartmentalized information." Intel material, informed by highly sensitive sources, is highly restricted.
Every person who has access to the most sensitive pieces of intelligence must be supremely trustworthy -- capable of being kept in the highest cones of silence. If they leak information, they potentially jeopardize lives of intel agents in the field.
So, in essence, General Kelly either (a) allowed a key aide in the chain of information access to TS/SCI information, or (b) waived the process entirely, or (c) created a system that worked around him.
If General Kelly allowed Porter access to TS/SCI information, that's a security breach that's extraordinary.
If General Kelly formally waived off the TS/SCI restrictions, he likely would have done that formally -- including either w/ WH Counsel, the FBI, or the President himself. That would require understanding fully the reason Porter was still "interim" (i.e. alleged wife-beating.)
Most defendable is that General Kelly allowed a system for moving information -- from Aug/17 thru Feb/18 -- that simply worked around the staff secretary. Rob Porter needed to have been kept out of the loop for any truly sensitive material going into the Oval.
That would have required a highly disciplined NSC staff, which in essence, would have had to have final control over all Oval Office paper flow.
