Letter to my "representatives" in Washington, D.C.

From one of several digital devices in the possession of…

Joseph L. Puente , Salt Lake City, Utah

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Feb 5, 2025

[Congressional Delegation from Utah]

Washington, D.C.

Subject: Failure to respond to a security breach

[Senators Lee and Curtis, and Representative Maloy (District 2)]

I am a disabled U.S. Navy veteran. While serving as a Cryptologic Technician, I held a Top Secret SCI (Sensitive Compartmented Information) security clearance. Having gone through the lengthy and arduous process of an FBI background investigation and all associated due diligence required to be granted such a clearance, I’m more than a little concerned that a group of civilians, with no security credentials to my knowledge, attempted to access a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF) within the U.S. Treasury Department.

While it has been claimed that no classified material was accessed, the possibility that any individual not employed by the federal government—or the Department of the Treasury in particular—and lacking a legitimate need to know could be given access to any sensitive, privileged, or private information is alarming, to say the least.

This is a clear breach of security, raising serious concerns about the potential damage that can be done not only to our government but to the citizens of our nation. Should unauthorized parties, including at least one foreign national, gain access to our country’s institutional systems to deliberately inflict unnecessary “hardship” for the sake of ideology and ego, millions of disabled Americans—civilians and veterans—could find themselves destitute.

Why is no one in the Legislative branch of our government doing anything about this?

I swore an oath of enlistment when I volunteered to serve my country in the armed forces. That oath contains a phrase that is identical to one contained within the oath of office recited by elected officials. To “...defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic…”

My enlistment has ended. Those holding public office are expected to be true to their word. Failure to do so is, at best, a clear dereliction of duty on their part. At worst, it could be seen as being tacitly complicit with those who would destroy the nation that millions of veterans have fought and died to protect.

Sincerely,

(signed)

Joseph L. Puente

Salt Lake City, Utah