The Foreign Service Journal, September 2005

58 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 5 F O C U S O N D I P L O M A T I C S E C U R I T Y S ECURITY C LEARANCES : K NOW Y OUR R IGHTS n a quiet Friday morning, you receive a telephone call from your supervisor instructing you to report to the small embassy confer- ence room downstairs. Your post doesn’t get many vis- itors, so you’re surprised to find two serious-looking people in business attire already in the room when you arrive. Placing their credentials on the table, they explain that they’re special agents with the State Department’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security who have come all the way from Washington, D.C., to talk with you. At first they are rather vague about the purpose of their visit, saying they just want to ask you a few things. The questions are indirect, even friendly, at first, but it soon becomes clear that the interview has been script- ed ahead of time — and you are the only participant who does not know what is going on. When you press the agents, they eventually tell you that the department has received “derogatory information” that raises doubts as to your suitability for a security clearance. But they refuse to describe the specific allegations, much less their source. You protest that the charges are absurd, but they press you to answer their questions anyway, suggesting that cooperation will clear the matter up quickly. The agents are then supposed to present you with one of two written “warnings”: either a Garrity Warning or a Kalkines Warning, both named after court cases. The Garrity Warning is intended to preserve the govern- ment’s ability to use your answers against you in any criminal proceeding. You are told that the interview is completely voluntary, and if you choose not to answer you cannot be disciplined for that refusal. This does not necessarily mean that there is an interest in prose- cuting you. The Kalkines Warning is given when the govern- ment has chosen to forgo any criminal prosecution against you ahead of time. In that case, you will be compelled to answer questions at the risk of losing your job, but your answers may not be used against you in any criminal prosecution. This does not mean, howev- er, that there will not be a criminal prosecution. The use of that warning simply means that the government is not planning a criminal prosecution at that moment. Whichever warning the agents give you, be aware that they may attempt to minimize its seriousness to induce you to volunteer information. If you are already confused at this point, you are not O Y OU ARE ENTITLED TO HAVE AN AFSA REPRESENTATIVE AND ATTORNEY PRESENT DURING QUESTIONING . B Y J. M ICHAEL H ANNON