CNN Employee Finds Sensitive DHS Documents (Related To The Super Bowl) On A Plane

Whoever made this mistake should proooooooobably get a new job, because wow.

According to this, a CNN employee found sensitive documents detailing anti-terrorism response plans related to the Super Bowl. Where did the employee find these documents? In the back pocket of a plane seat. You know– like where they keep the menu of overpriced food and those sky news magazines you pretend to read when you’re bored? There.

Yikes.

A CNN employee found the December 2017 after-action review of a simulated anthrax attack in Minneapolis, marked ‘For Official Use Only’, in the seat-back pocket of a commercial airplane.

Due to the risk of a terrorist attack, the DHS gave the Super Bowl a Level 1 ‘special event assessment rating’, the highest security designation available.

The DHS report, though not classified, was marked ‘important for national security’ and instructed recipients to keep it locked up after business hours and shred it before discarding.

So it’s still bad.

The document’s most sensitive contents are being withheld, and the report on finding it was was delayed until after the Super Bowl due to security concerns.

The report is a draft after-action review of exercises designed to evaluate law enforcement and public heath response to a biological attack in Minneapolis on Super Bowl Sunday.

The report’s criticisms included that ‘some local law enforcement and emergency management agencies possess only a cursory knowledge of the BioWatch program and its mission.’

You had one job.

A DHS person released a statement on the matter. There was no specific threat to the Super Bowl. They just wanted to play it safe.

“This exercise was a resounding success and was not conducted in response to any specific, credible threat of a bioterrorism attack,” the spokesperson said. “It is important that operators regularly exercise their capabilities against a wide range of scenarios in order to effectively counter the changing threat environment.”

Along with the report, CNN said it found a travel itinerary and boarding pass for Michael V. Walter, the program manager for BioWatch.

However, the identity of the person who left the documents on the plane could not be verified.

Walter, 59, held previous posts with the Central Intelligence Agency and Naval Surface Warfare Center.

He did not respond to CNN’s inquiries and could not be reached by DailyMail.com.

DHS said it was reviewing the matter and did not comment on who left the documents behind, citing prohibitions on discussing personnel matters.

I’ve lost my boarding pass on a plane before, but I have a feeling I wouldn’t lose track of something that had to be locked up during non-business hours. Just sayin’.

h/t Daily Mail