House Republicans in a performance meant to impress their “audience of one” (President Trump) abused House rules and put national security at risk with their stunt rushing a closed hearing being held in a SCIF facility complete with their electronic devices. That behavior (what would our Republican friends have done if that had happened when they held the majority (during the closed Benghazi hearings?) put our country’s national security at risk. Why? Here’s an article from The Atlantic that talks about how Congress uses these room:
They’re called SCIFs, and they’re designed to let members see sensitive information beyond the reach of prying eyes.
They are tucked all across the Capitol complex, unassuming, behind doors numbered just like any other room. They are rarely mentioned in public, and what is viewed inside is spoken of even less.
But unlike many offices, these rooms host entourages of sharply uniformed military or intelligence officials throughout the day. And every now and then, glassy-eyed members of Congress emerge, shaking their heads, looking as if they’ve just seen a ghost.
They’re the Sensitive Compartmented Information Facilities (acronymed SCIFs and pronounced “skiffs”) that serve as secure rooms where those with top-secret clearance can view some of the country’s most classified information.
But what is most remarkable about the rooms, members say, is just how unremarkable they seem. Unlike the dimly lit intelligence offices of pop culture, adorned with flashing space-age computer screens, a congressional SCIF more resembles any ordinary room in the Capitol complex, with a wooden boardroom table and pastel painted walls.