Contractor Intentionally Lied So He Could Get Clearance Denied

In many security clearance appeal cases the applicant is denied eligibility based on withholding information or not being entirely candid. Take for instance, marijuana use. The applicant says he last used three years ago when they actually used it three weeks ago and now, they failed a pre-employment drug test. Well, I ran across an unusual case where the applicant filled out the SF-86 and listed using marijuana from 2003 to 2019 and stated his intent to keep using it. At least he was up front about it, right? Here is the rest of the story.

This DoD contractor was interviewed by a background investigator and asked about his self-admitted illegal drug use. During the interview he admitted he wasn’t happy with his job and thought if he listed the marijuana use it would get him disqualified from have a security clearance and his employer would “let him go”, and then he would be eligible to collect unemployment benefits. He told the investigator he actually had not used marijuana since 2007 before he joined the Marine Corps.

When connecting the dots here, it doesn’t make sense that he would appeal the decision to deny his eligibility for a clearance if he was trying to get disqualified from having one. Yet, that is exactly what he did. The Defense Office of Hearing and Appeals judge pointed out that not only did he lie on the current clearance application in claiming drug use, but he also lied on a 2012 application in which he did not disclose his previous drug use in 2007. This one was certainly odd, but in the end, he got what he wanted, though not sure he was eligible for unemployment benefits after this.