Last year a close friend applied for a position at the FBI that entailed candidates being promoted through four increasingly rigorous stages as part of the hiring process. He has exceptionally impressive credentials and persuasive communication skills, so he vaulted through the initial selection where competitive applicants are invited to interview. Following the interview, he entered into the final selection where he was given an employment offer contingent upon the successful completion and favorable adjudication of a full background investigation and the receipt of an FBI Top Secret security clearance. That was the lengthiest, most intensive part. It involved more interviews, a pre-employment polygraph examination, urinalysis test, and fingerprinting. The FBI background investigators contacted all of his employers, past and present; his references, social acquaintances, and neighbors. As a young adult in the modern era, they were significantly aided in identifying and soliciting information from friends, coworkers, and classmates. People who knew him intimately as well as those with only peripheral affiliation were contacted. He was required to submit the correct details for every social media account he ever had in his life, including his "finsta" (secondary account on Instagram), Pinterest, YouTube, Reddit, and the Facebook he made in middle school and abandoned years ago. They carefully reviewed his school, credit, and even his medical and immunization records.
After all of this, he was issued a Top Security clearance and given an EOD (Enter-on-Duty) for the summer of 2018. He reorganized his schedule to fit this start date, and made the necessary travel and living arrangements. Then he got a call that halted everything. Fresh eyes had reviewed his application for a final time and noticed a detail previously overlooked. On his CV he stated that he'd received a "full scholarship" to college. This was an unnecessary detail, but one he'd added to make himself appear even more accomplished. At our college, full scholarships are only given to recruited athletes; all other aid is based on family financial status, not on student merit. He also had not received a "full" scholarship, but he had been awarded substantial aid that covered the cost of tuition. This would be considered a peccadillo by most employers, but was of importance to the FBI because it was a reflection of his honesty. The leading reason security clearances are denied or altered are due to questions of trustworthiness. He wasn't disqualified from ever working for the FBI but his offer for that program was rescinded.
I am informed about the details of all of this because he knows that my mom used to be an attorney for the FBI, and was hopeful she could offer guidance to him. She advised him not defend the error but to instead own it, and disclose anything else that could get snagged on in a fine-tooth comb inspection over his life. To use clear, unambiguous wording and not attempt to mitigate any mistakes but rather to present them plainly. A respected colleague of hers had frozen during her first polygraph when asked about marijuana use, with fear of being instantly disqualified if the truthful answer was given. But she did tell the truth about experimenting with it at a party, and was then asked if she was going to use it again, to which she truthfully answered no. Her forthrightness is what was valued.
The program my friend applied for is the FBI's college honors internship for undergraduates. They expect applicants, most of whom are 18 to 23, to use care with their words to ensure accuracy.
I don't know when the FBI security clearances for Brett Kavanaugh took place, and how thorough they would have been of his youth. The National Agency Check with Law and Credit goes back five years, while the clearance process for Top Secret uses a Single Scope Background Investigation that goes back ten years. What I do know is that in his testimony, which Kavanaugh prepared in advance and should have had scrutinized for any discrepancies, he made some inaccurate, disputable, or misleading statements.
When asked about his alcohol consumption in high school, he said his classmates were “legal to drink” in their senior year, even though the legality of the drinking was not the issue, and, in fact, he could not legally drink because the age was raised to 21 before he even turned 18. He depicted his drinking habits in college as being typical, whereas his classmates remember him drinking in excess even of the norms of the time, and stated that he “grossly misrepresented and mischaracterized his drinking.” Instead of just being candid about the vulgarities in his high school yearbook, explaining them with chagrin perhaps but honesty, he gave explanations that ring as false and his classmates have said were untrue.