This line of work is all about dishonesty. Espionage and spying and dishonesty is the job description.

They can't know.

Also I would argue people in the NSA are less honest then normal despite the background checks.

People with security clearances spill their guts and tell all on their security clearance forms, because not doing so is a felony that the DOJ takes incredibly seriously. People’s most personal and intimate secrets are in those forms.

Never, ever lie or knowingly omit information on a security clearance form. If you tell the truth and you are disqualified, it’s extremely unlikely that information will be used against you. The FBI isn’t going to come after you for doing mushrooms. If you lie to the federal government while trying to obtain a security clearance, they will put you in federal prison.

Unless you're Hilary Clinton or Hunter Biden or Clapper lying before congress etc etc etc.

The us government is fatally corrupt, and anyone who 'trusts'the fbi to do or not do something has a child like innocence, wholly ignornant of history, even recent history.

Shine on HN, there certainly is no pro government propaganda you wont shy away from amplifying. Morally bankrupt yet I'll be the one flagged into the ground, pathetic.

What kind of person would even want to falsify/lie throughout the clearance process. It's such a long and arduous process and the payoff is basically nothing. If it's actually an illegal trying to get into the system, they'd be better off going into politics where you gain automatic 'need to know' and have no repercussions for lying.

Better yet: omit 100% of the information on the security clearance form and never fill one out.

It is more than a risky move. It can carry up to five years in prison. The statute governing this has been enforced in the past in some relatively unfair ways (getting past job details incorrect on the application).

The forms are just materials they lean on during your security interviews. They kind of want you to lie about something to give them fodder to yell/break you. You're not going to prison for lying on your SF86. The polygraph hasn't even caught a traitor, they're all tools for breaking people

I've been interviewed by the DOD for friends and coworkers to obtain security clearance. They ask all sorts of questions.