Is security of our classified documentation so lax that a former official could show one on TV? Whether or not former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill was permitted to take home documents, the federal procedures for handling classified material is very clear. First of all, classified documents usually remain classified for at least 10 years. Second, they are kept in secure storage areas, under the control of a security officer. And, they are only permitted to be viewed in secure areas. In other words, you wouldn't exactly check out a classified document and then carry it back to your cubicle at work. They should be viewed in closed wall rooms with windows and doors shut. It is also generally illegal to reproduce classified material without authorization, and there are also regulations about keeping classified documents unsecured. Generally speaking, you cannot keep them out of the safe overnight.

Since documents are supposed to be logged in and out of a safe, if these are indeed original classified documents, they should have been reported "missing" from somewhere. Otherwise they could be classified documents that were supposed to have been destroyed but weren't, or classified documents that were reproduced (probably illegally) via fax or photocopy. Of course there is always the possibility that they aren't classified at all, and the stooges at CBS simply stamped "Secret" on them as a marketing ploy.

Of course if they were shown clearly on CBS, it should be relatively easy to see if they were properly marked. Each page of a classified document should be clearly marked at the top and bottom with the highest classification level. Also, each passage should be clearly marked with the classification (usually in the margin).

While we'll have to wait and see what the investigators find, I wonder how long it will take the conspiracy theorists to claim that Bush is retaliating against O'Neill for speaking out against the Administration. (Quick, someone check DU.)