----- Original Message ----- From: Lance Murdoch To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org Sent: Wednesday, August 06, 2003 9:58 PM Subject: [lbo-talk] DOD considers poor a security risk
Found on Democratic Underground:
http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGA51QQC1JD.html
Government Considers Lockheed Martin Janitor a Security Risk Because of His Financial Struggle
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - In 19 years of using his security clearance to sweep floors at a plant owned by defense contractor Lockheed Martin, janitor Michael Lynch has done nothing to arouse suspicion.
Co-workers and bosses speak glowingly of Lynch, a brain-tumor survivor who's active in his church, building homes for poor people in Maine and West Virginia.
But because he and his family have struggled financially, the government now sees him as a threat to national security. Defense Department officials believe the janitor may be tempted to sell government secrets to get out of debt.
Last month, they asked a judge to revoke Lynch's security clearance.
[...]
The Defense Department didn't respond to a request for comment.
[...]
By January of this year, the department had concluded that Lynch, who makes $16.85 an hour sweeping floors at Lockheed's plant in Moorestown, N.J., was a threat and moved to revoke his clearance.
Defense Department policy states that "an individual who is financially overextended is at risk of having to engage in illegal acts to generate funds." The policy says that a history of financial trouble and an "inability or unwillingness to satisfy debts" are among factors that could raise security concerns.
[...]
Lynch, a former cabinet maker, was out of work for three years after surgery in 1981 to remove a brain tumor. When he was well enough, he got a job at the radar and missile guidance systems plant, then owned by RCA but later acquired by Lockheed Martin.
The Lynches ran into severe financial problems in the early 1990s after his wife, Kay, stopped working to help their blind daughter, Christy, with her studies. The family couldn't make ends meet on Michael Lynch's wages and declared bankruptcy.
[...]
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