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In his most recent testimony, Mudge mentioned that he was in the leaked OPM database with his details and clearance level leaked which implies he had clearance.

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That doesn't necessarily mean Mudge had a Secret clearance or something. For all we know, he could have had a Public Trust position, which meant he handled sensitive but unclassified information. Anybody in IT or infosec would have that kind of clearance.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sensitive_but_unclassified

https://news.clearancejobs.com/2020/09/01/what-is-a-public-t...

Did he mention a clearance level, or just being in the OPM breach? My understanding is that the OPM breach included plenty of uncleared employeesas well.

(I’m not trying to be stubborn! If he really did hold a clearance as a DARPA PM, then I’m wrong in his case.)

You could have been in the OPM database being a janitor at the VA.

Although that wording about "Clearance level" does seem to suggest more than just the baseline government employee background check.

Yeah, that’s the part I’m curious about: there are plenty of “public trust” or SBU roles that I’d expect to have been leaked with the OPM breach that are “cleared” in the pop sense of the word, but are not actual clearances in the US Government’s sense.

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