PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) — Rep. Darin LaHood (R-Illinois) has introduced bipartisan legislation to strengthen existing laws for mishandling classified documents.
The Classified Documents Accountability Act would create civil penalties of $500,000 per violation, create a screening and certification process for classified materials during administration transitions, and revoke security clearances from officials who violate the act. Outgoing Presidents and Vice Presidents would also be required to certify they do not have any classified documents in their possession.
“So right now the law, the way it’s structured, it really turns on intent or knowledge, and what was your intent and knowledge in that. It doesn’t address carelessness or negligence or sloppiness,” said LaHood.
LaHood, a former state and federal prosecutor who sits on the House Intelligence Committee, said the legislation will give more tools to prosecutors.
“It adds penalties for people that are careless, negligent or sloppy when it comes to classified documents. Our bill was introduced in a bipartisan way, with the ultimate goal to deter this type of behavior in the future and help protect these documents,” said LaHood.
LaHood introduced the bill with Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Chicago), who also sits on the House Intelligence Committee.
“We’ve had too many incidents of classified documents being not secured…We said what can we do to make sure this doesn’t happen again in the future. Because really we’re jeopardizing our military, we’re jeopardizing our intelligence officers, we’re jeopardizing the safety of Americans if we don’t secure classified documents,” he said.
Former President Donald Trump, President Joe Biden, and former Vice President Mike Pence have each had classified documents scandals in recent months. Special Counsel Jack Smith is investigating Trump’s mishandling of classified documents and his refusal to return them.
