Hello,

I wondered if anyone here has experience successfully getting a security clearance from the government, despite a hobbying history.  

From what I read, applications for clearances of Secret level and above involve them looking into your financial records from the past several years.  Would they ask me to explain periodic cash ATM withdrawals?  If so how should one respond?  Does it help if those withdrawals are all a certain length of time in the past?

Anyone have experience with this?

Thanks in advance.

-- Modified on 9/15/2020 3:49:20 PM

are you withdrawing more than 10K at a time? I doubt it.  

you will be fine. You donate cash to ur church in mass, u keep cash bc you give to teenagers allowances and they are lucky enough to have a nice daddy $$$, or ur nieces. People get cash for many things, you give out to people in need, gift for your nieces, heck donate it in church during mass. LOL I mean C'mon.  

What people should be worry is of DEPOSITS and where is the money coming from, (reason why we all should pay taxes- to prevent issues).  Money coming in- money that needs to be reported. Simple.  

Unless you do withdraws of 10K (that obviously will trigger any bank institution).  
If you have a  polygraph well.. that's another story, but thats not something I would answer or responded in here.  

Every few years you have to get the SC updated and they would contact your wife,( or ex-wife ), neighbors, friends, etc.  
This one of course depends of the level of SC you are trying to obtain. Many levels of SC's Confidential, Secret, TS/SCI.  

Chill, you guys sound like scary puppies all the time in these boards LOL  (joking in a sweet way) haha 😜

-- Modified on 9/15/2020 4:54:19 PM

As long as you are living within your means you have little to worry about. If your finances are always on the edge you are a risk and a clearance unlikely. If you have serious financial problems you are a risk. If you want to live beyond your means, you are a risk. If you are fiscally responsible I don't think they would spend the time and money to figure out if you are seeing hookers just based on the credit and banking check.

If asked about ask them what specifically they are asking about. If they say on September 12 you took made a $400 ATM withdrawal what did you use it for, just tell them you prefer cash to credit and let them push for more. If you are this concerned about it and really want the job, consider no engaging in P4P would be my suggestion.

In general, while there are concerns, the background check is much more concerned about you trying to hide skeletons which could later compromise you into sharing secrets.  It's probably true that the lifestyle checks might find something and you might get declined or you might be asked about it. If asked, and you've been reasonable discreet and come across as "Not a big deal to me if people know but never bragged about it" they might just ignore it. Particularly if you don't seem addicted to it.

After all, if you can keep your own secrets and properly compartmentalize the information it is something of an indication you can do so with their secrets.

The only real likelihood of a problem I can see would be in the event of an an associated arrest or documented incidents in a divorce proceeding. A bitter ex-wife could cause trouble, too.

Elected officials mess around in this world as a few get exposed here and there. Trump was into pay for play with model/celeb chicks the old fashioned way.  

Hell the police have been infiltrated by private militias and supremacist and they got a license to kill. FBI knows it and publicly admitted it...and limits their work with the police.  

 
Don't yall find it odd the movers and shakers don't need clearances? Just need to win or be appointed. Security Clearance nuts got stockholm....should be a rebellion until elected officials need to meet clearance requirements, imo.

Regarding finances, they are looking to see if you are a risk. Can you be leveraged because you have excessive debt? Are you a target of a foreign government to be flipped with a bribe.

 
Here is a piece of advice, don't ask questions. As in, "do you care about this?  how about this, does this matter?"  Just answer the questions don't get into what about this or that inquiries. Don't run your mouth and tip them off to something or a thread to pull-on.

 
As far as "screwing hookers" again, you could be leveraged to betray your country? Could a foreign country 'bribe' you with an escort or similar? Could a country force you to give information by threatening to tell your wife (in general that is not a tactic its more carrot than a stick). They'll get to this through various means, and not you. Most of the time it will be through your neighbors, references, etc. Anything out of the ordinary with Doug? Do you talk with this wife? People don't need a lot to start gossiping about you. One of the MANY reasons you should be nice to your neighbors, whether a Trump supporter or Antifa.  

 
Basically, don't worry

There are many studies that says using cash vs credit card saves money.    people are more willing to put something on a credit card then count out physical cash

Lie detector is common at higher clearance levels ...

As far as a lie detector tests, they are bullshit. I lied like hell, passed with flying colors. Its a psych game. If you know the game, you'll be fine. TS doesn't require a lie detector test (or at least back in the day). I don't know about other security clearances.

 
Basically, don't worry about the hobby unless it caused you to go into severe debt.

Having your finances in order is the most important thing.  Cash withdrawals - not a problem.
If you have a bad credit rating... they will ask you about that.

There are different type/level of TS and yes some require lie polygraph. TS that requires a life style will have a poly.

They don't want you to be vulnerable to being threatened or leveraged in any way. It isn't about morality.

When I had my first update for a TS renewal, the guy asked me about marijuana. It didn't come up on my first investigation for whatever reason (maybe just assumed given where I was getting my PhD?). When I said "yes from high school and through grad school" he said something like "Oh Shit" and "This won't affect your clearance but it means extra paperwork for me."

If you go to strip clubs a lot, that is fine apparently. However, if you max out your credit cards tipping the strippers and the debts get cleared by unexplained cash, that is a red flag.

A guy I knew in the CIA who had access to a lot more compartments than I did told me that it was basically a stress interview technique. They don't believe the results any more than they would a Ouija board, but it freaks out the interviewee and gets them to reveal what they might not otherwise. So, while my pure (mostly - she is a grown-up) niece was wetting her panties during her investigation with a polygraph, some Identity Evropa terrorist was skating through with no issues.

It is also up to the agency. My TS came with no polygraph even though I worked for one of the most sensitive agencies.

You are obviously a guy given the direction of the payments.  

However, to any girls reading this, there is a recurrent and seemingly not completely resolvable problem with sexual harassment in the context of security investigations. Female interviewers doesn't do the trick because some of them apparently get off of this too. If given a polygraph or any other kind of stress interview, be prepared to be asked a lot of unnecessary questions about your sexual history. Answer them honestly but with as little detail as possible. Honesty matters; whatever mental material you provide for subsequent jacking or jilling off to your abuser does not matter.

Yes, there are three types of federal government security clearances; confidential, secret, and top secret.  There are other types of security clearances. the TS clearance doesn't require a polygraph, but an agency may ask or require one. Think CIA, for example, they require polygraphy for every employee.

I think what he is getting at is the clearance part not the classification level. A lot of classified information is also rather compartmentalized and access there tends to drive all the deeper dives into the safety of granting access so you start getting the polygraphs and more detailed investigation into past relationships and contact and life style aspect.

Gotcha, makes sense.