Top Pentagon cyber official probed over disclosure concerns

SSG Robert Mark Odom

PUBLISHEDJUN 29, 2021, 2:38 PM SGT
WASHINGTON (BLOOMBERG) - The Pentagon official who has been overseeing its new cyber-security initiative for defence contractors has been placed on leave in connection with a suspected unauthorised disclosure of classified information from a military intelligence agency, according to an official document.

Ms Katie Arrington, chief information security officer for the Pentagon's acquisition and sustainment office, was informed May 11 that "her security clearance for access to classified information is being suspended" as "a result of a reported Unauthorised Disclosure of Classified Information and subsequent removal of access by the National Security Agency," according to a memo made available to Bloomberg News.

The National Security Agency, which is part of the Defence Department, gathers some of the nation's most sensitive signals and eavesdropping intelligence from foreign adversaries, mostly via satellite.

"If this preliminary decision becomes final, you will not be eligible for access to classified information" or "assignments to duties that have been designated national security sensitive," the memo from the Office of the Under Secretary of Defence for Acquisition and Sustainment said.

The memo to Ms Arrington provided no details about the possible disclosure of information. Pentagon acquisition spokesperson Jessica Maxwell said the department can't comment on any questions about Ms Arrington's status.

"Absolutely no decisions have been reached regarding any aspect," Ms Arrington's attorney Mark Zaid said in an email.

He confirmed the content of the memo, saying that "when faced with such programmatic allegations DoD would routinely open an investigation as a matter of course. This is how the system works. Accepting an investigation, however, doesn't prejudge the merits."

Ms Arrington is on administrative leave during the "preliminary investigation," the "specific details of which have not been made known to us," Mr Zaid said.

"She has neither been fired nor had her security clearance revoked," he said. "We look forward to an opportunity to completely clear her name and her return to work."

Ms Arrington is a former two-term Republican state representative from South Carolina who ran an unsuccessful campaign for Congress in 2018 that emphasised her private-sector cyber experience.