While not a commonly seen reason for revocations or denials for security clearances, certain situations can trigger concerns under Guideline A: Allegiance to the United States.
What is Guideline A?
One’s willingness and/or ability to safeguard classified information would be in doubt if there is any reason to suspect a person’s allegiance to the United States. This could be participation or support for acts against the United States, placing the welfare or interests of another country over that of the United States, or even violation of U.S. laws if they can harm the interests of the United States, such as espionage, insurrections, and/or domestic terrorism.
What Might Trigger Concern Under Guideline A?
Typically, involvement or even association with groups or individuals who engage in acts of sabotage, espionage, treason, terrorism or sedition, or even sympathy with such persons could trigger this guideline. This can also concern organizations that engage in such behavior as overthrowing or influencing the U.S., state, or local governments, preventing federal, state, or local governments from performing their official duties, or preventing others from exercising their Constitutional rights.
It is important to understand that simple association with these groups is enough to trigger a security concern. One does not actually need to participate in an act. While not specifically stated in the remaining 12 Adjudicative Guidelines in the SEAD 4, allegiance to the United States is an underlying consideration in each adjudication, regardless of what Guideline is alleged. Guideline A is simply triggered for actual acts or associations that cast doubt upon allegiance to the United States.
Can Guideline A Concerns Be Mitigated?
While these are serious issues, there are available mitigating conditions that are also considered to determine if one’s clearance should be revoked or denied due to Guideline A concerns.
In most cases, ignorance of the law is not a defense. However, if a person genuinely did not know about the unlawful claims of the organization or individuals they were associating with and they take actions to sever those associations, mitigation may be present.
There are also considerations about thelength of time the association or acts occurred, if the acts were permitted under U.S. law, or if there were unique circumstances associated with such activities. Each case is reviewed individually, however just because there are concerns raised under Guideline A, does not mean those concerns cannot be mitigated.
Example of a Guideline A Concern
One of the most infamous and recent situations was the actions that occurred on January 6, 2021. Individuals who associated with or were involved in this situation could be determined to have engaged in acts to overthrow or influence the U.S. government. Thus, if any of those individuals held a security clearance, a Guideline A concern would have been triggered.
Additionally, involvement in various groups that are contrary to or have ideals contrary to the interests of the United States could also trigger a concern under this Guideline.
It is good practice to scrutinize association with certain groups and/or acts committed based upon strong beliefs in general. But this is especially true if one holds a federal security clearance, in order to prevent the triggering of a Guideline A concern.
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Tully Rinckey attorneys understand that issues involving security clearances can be challenging, and they will handle your matter with the attention and tact it deserves. If you have additional questions, our team of dedicated security clearance attorneys is available to assist you today. Please call (888) 970-4076, or schedule a consultation online.
