Update: I just sent another E-mail to the Malkin camp at 5:29AM Pacific.  I asked for the identity of the person (source) who released the document to her. I’m quite sure it’s not forthcoming.

Update: Comment #24 to the Malkin post had it right:

Not classified but someone distributed a FOUO (For Official Use Only) memo, which is verboten.

Yep. I wrote an E-mail to the Malkin organization at 1:11AM Pacific, but 10 bucks says it’ll go completely ignored.  I don’t think the woman is big on admitting when she’s overstepped her bounds.

Update: The FOUO cat is DEFINITELY out of the bag.  Other blogs that gleefully print portions of the document can be found here and here.

Original Post: She’s constantly crusading, perennially outraged, and forever (and painfully) shrill.

Conservative blogger, columnist, and feces-flinger Michelle Malkin is at it again.  But this time she’s crossed a line she shouldn’t have.

Yesterday, in a post entitled “Document drop: Unclassified memo warns military personnel of anti-war threats to recruiters, Army installations/facilities,” Malkin published a document reportedly issued by the headquarters of the U.S. Northern Command.  The document was provided to her by an undisclosed source.

One of Malkin’s recent crusades has been to unveil and document various protest activities (to include actual physical threats) against U.S. military recruiting facilities.  While laudable in its intent, her crusade has now gone one step too far.

You see, while Malkin rightly claims that the document is labeled “unclassified,” some paragraphs in the document are clearly marked as being “FOUO,” or “For Official Use Only.”  This can be defined as:

For Official Use Only (FOUO) is a document designation, not a classification. This designation is used by Department of Defense and a number of other federal agencies to identify information or material which, although unclassified, may not be appropriate for public release.

There is no national policy governing use of the For Official Use Only designation. DoD Directive 5400.7 defines For Official Use Only information as “unclassified information that may be exempt from mandatory release to the public under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).” The policy is implemented by DoD Regulation 5400.7-R and 5200.1-R. [Emphasis added.]

Here is some more information regarding the specific use of the designation FOUO as used within the DoD:

Each government department or agency defines what information shall be protected and how its protected information shall be handled. The following information pertains only to Department of Defense FOUO information. When dealing with sensitive but unclassified information from another department or agency, check with the originator regarding appropriate handling.

And regarding access to FOUO Information:

FOUO information may be disseminated within the DoD components and between officials of the DoD components and DoD contractors, consultants, and grantees as necessary in the conduct of official business. FOUO information may also be released to officials in other departments and agencies of the executive and judicial branches in performance of a valid government function.

As for the proper handling of FOUO information:

FOUO information should be handled in a manner that provides reasonable assurance that unauthorized persons do not gain access.

During working hours, reasonable steps should be taken to minimize risk of access by unauthorized personnel. After working hours, FOUO may be stored as a minimum in unlocked containers, desks or cabinets if government or government-contract building security is provided. If government or government-contract building security is not provided, it must be stored at a minimum in a locked desk, file cabinet, bookcase, locked room, or similar place.

FOUO documents and material may be transmitted via first class mail, parcel post, or — for bulk shipments — fourth class mail.

Fax or e-mail transmission of FOUO information (voice, data or facsimile) should be by encrypted communications systems whenever practical. FOUO information may be put on an Internet web site only if access to the site is limited to a specific target audience and the information is encrypted.

[…]

FOUO documents may be destroyed by shredding or tearing into pieces and discarding the pieces in a regular trash container unless circumstances suggest a need for more careful protection.  [Emphasis added.]

And what about penalties for the misuse of FOUO material?

Administrative penalties may be imposed for misuse of FOUO information. Criminal penalties may be imposed depending on the actual content of the information (privacy, export control, etc.). [Emphasis added.]

So our friend, the forever “patriotic” Ms. Malkin, in concert with the miscreant who gave her the document, has done a decidedly unpatriotic thing by publishing information that was never, ever intended for her readers’ eyes.

Malkin (who has never “wasted” a day of her own precious little life by serving in the military, by the way) constantly bloviates about her “support of the troops.”  But then she goes and does something as painfully absurd as this.

If there are, indeed, individuals or groups who are planning some sort of action—violent or otherwise–against military facilities (to include recruiting offices), they now know the specific precautionary steps the people employed at those facilities have been advised to take.  In turn, potential assailants are now equipped to circumvent those precautionary measures because they have been alerted to them.

And all because of Ms. Michelle Malkin’s insatiable desire to grandstand.

Ms. Malkin.  Please read this again:

FOUO information may be disseminated within the DoD components and between officials of the DoD components and DoD contractors, consultants, and grantees as necessary in the conduct of official business. FOUO information may also be released to officials in other departments and agencies of the executive and judicial branches in performance of a valid government function.  [Emphasis added.]

Do you think your use of this information somehow meets those criteria?  Do you somehow think that your position as a loudmouth blogger somehow gives you information access privileges that are not bestowed upon normal, less-endowed human beings?  Do you think that your incessant pandering to the military has resulted in some sort of automatic (and unspoken) authorization for access to this sort of information?

If you think so, you’d better think again.  You’re not that special, Michelle.  You should be ashamed of yourself for this one. Remember:

FOUO information should be handled in a manner that provides reasonable assurance that unauthorized persons do not gain access.

You, Ms. Malkin, meet the definition of an “unauthorized person.”  As do your thousands of readers.

Including me.

But the cat’s irretrievably out of the bag now, isn’t it?

Loose lips and all that rot, eh?

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