Information Security

Disposition and Use of Classified Documents by Presidential Appointees Gao ID: NSIAD-90-195 September 28, 1990

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed federal agencies' arrangements to provide former presidential appointees access to classified documents related to their service.

GAO found that: (1) the Department of State's procedures and arrangements with the National Archives and Records Administration for providing a former Secretary of State access to classified materials generally complied with the regulations; (2) State corrected problems involving its inventory of top-secret documents, assignment of document control numbers, and unauthorized storage of classified documents; (3) the Department of Defense's (DOD) arrangements with the Library of Congress for providing a former Secretary of Defense with access to classified materials did not comply with regulations and had several control weaknesses; and (4) despite control weaknesses involving a lack of documentation and who had the right to control access, there was no evidence that national security information was actually compromised.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

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