Classified Information—Donald Keyser Update

Classified Information—Donald Keyser Update

Former senior State Department official Donald Keyser was sentenced January 22 for mishandling classified material.^[1] We wrote about his case and his involvement with Isabelle Cheng, an intelligence officer from Taiwan, two years ago here and later about problems with his plea deal. On December 12, 2005 Keyser pleaded guilty to a 3-count Criminal Information in which he admitted that he willfully and unlawfully removed classified documents and floppy discs from the Department of State to his residence. ^[2] Keyser further admitted he made false statements regarding his relationship with Cheng and his visits to Taiwan.^[3]

According to court documents, agents discovered 3,559 classified documents in hard copy form including documents containing information originated by the U.S. Department of State, National Security Agency, CIA and Defense Intelligence Agency. ^[4] Twenty-eight documents were classified as Top Secret.^[5] The FBI also found numerous floppy discs, and classified documents were found on the hard drive of Keyser’s personal computer.^[6] Additionally, Keyser took a classified disc with him to Asia.^[7]

Mr. Keyser, age 63, was sentenced to 12 months and one day in prison, payment of a $25,000 fine and three years of supervised release.^[8] U.S. Attorney Chuck Rosenberg stated “Mr. Keyser had an absolute obligation to safeguard the classified information entrusted to him and utterly failed to do so. His sentence of imprisonment is a warning to others in positions of public trust.”^[9]

Making false statements is a federal crime covered by 18 U.S.C. § 1001(a)(2), which makes it a crime for a person, “in any matter within the jurisdiction of the executive” branch of the US government, to knowingly and willfully make any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation. The punishment for violating this section 1001(a) is a fine, imprisonment for up to 5 years, or both.

Illegally removing classified documents is a federal crime covered by 18 U.S.C. § 793(f)(1), which makes it a crime for a person who has been entrusted with having certain documents relating to the national defense, to permit the documents to be removed from their proper place of custody or delivered to anyone in violation of his trust, through gross negligence. The punishment for a violation of section 793(f) is a fine, imprisonment for up to ten years, or both.

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[1] Jim Rybicki, Ex-Department of State Official Donald Keyser Sentenced in Classified Info Case, U.S. Department of State, Available at http://www.state.gov/, January 22, 2007.
[2] Id.
[3] Id.
[4] Id.
[5] Id.
[6] Id.
[7] Id.
[8] Id.
[9] Id.