The media is ablaze overPresident Trump sharing classified information with Russian foreign officialsbut what is classified information exactly?
And what happens if you disclose it?
Good news: Youve been granted clearance to acquire this not-quite-top-secret knowledge.
Usually laws or regulations are made so only specific groups of peopleusually government officialscan get into the restricted content.
Ideally, this information is never accessed or learned by those who do not need to know it.
Basically, its the information the U.S. government deems unsafe to be public knowledge.
After all, if everyone knew the name of a covert operative, they wouldnt be covert.
You get the picture.
But not all clearances are alike.
There are several tiers of classified information sensitivity as defined byExecutive Order 13549.
Confidential:The lowest level of classified information.
This information could potentially hamper national security efforts if it was disclosed to the public.
Secret:The second-highest level of classified information, and the level that most classified information is held at.
The unauthorized disclosure of Secret-level information would cause serious damage to national security.
Top Secret:The highest level of classified information.
Think secret code words for military operations, nuke codes, and maybe aliens or something.
The U.S. government chooses the level based on a thorough impact assessment.
Theres also a final non-official category of classified information known as unclassified.
This is formerly classified information that may be released to those with no security clearance.
What Happens If You Disclose Classified Information
People disclose classified information all the time.
It is very difficult to remember many smaller details that are sensitive.
So mistakes are not uncommon.
But what happens if you intentionally disclose classified information without authorization?
However, the U.S. government gets to decide who it goes after for breaking these rules.
So, what about President Trump?
Will he get in trouble for disclosing classified information to Russian officials?
Dont hold your breath.
So if the president wants to disclose it, he gets to disclose it.
Actions like his ruin major intelligence operations by laying out all of our cards to an adversarial power.
Its not illegal, but its not ideal either.
This is not true.
The text above has been changed to clear this up.
