Classified Emails
Col Mike Walker, USMC (retired)
All,
Just a short note on this subject.
The comment "They were not classified when I received them" has two meanings and the distinction is important.
Meaning 1: The email was classified at a later date or ex post facto.
Meaning 2: The classification was stripped away/removed by the sender.
Both meanings imply a defense for the person who received the email as does Meaning 1 for the sender.
The key question will be: Would a reasonable person have known the contents needed to be protected to a degree that was impossible with a private email server.
Meaning 2, however, is a wrong on the part of the sender if proper handling and/or declassification procedures were not followed and opens them to severe penalties up to including a lengthy term in Federal Prison.
Mike
