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Issue Encyclopedia · Guideline E · Personal Conduct

Pattern of Dishonesty or Rule Violations

What the decided record shows for this issue, computed from public DOHA hearing-level decisions. Descriptive history, not a prediction.

Does pattern of dishonesty or rule violations affect a security clearance?

Pattern of Dishonesty or Rule Violations is an issue decided under Guideline E, Personal Conduct. In the decided DOHA record it appears in 627 hearing-level cases, and 14% of the 625 decided ended with access granted (85 granted, 540 denied). The mitigating conditions judges credited most often, and example decisions either way, are below.

Basis: 625 decided hearing-level cases raising this issue. Descriptive history of decided cases, not a prediction.

More questions people ask the record

Decided cases

627

hearing-level decisions raising this issue

Granted

14%

85 granted · 540 denied or revoked

Official mitigating conditions cited

The formal mitigating conditions the case profiles identified on this issue, in cases that were granted and in cases that were denied. Each is shown with its paragraph number and a plain name. Read what each condition says.

  • ¶ 17(c) · Minor, long ago, infrequent, or under unique circumstances

    In granted cases
    24
    In denied cases
    3

  • ¶ 17(a) · A prompt, good-faith correction made before being confronted

    In granted cases
    17
    In denied cases
    1

  • ¶ 17(d) · The behavior acknowledged, with counseling or other positive steps

    In granted cases
    15
    In denied cases
    2

  • ¶ 17(e) · Steps taken to reduce vulnerability to pressure

    In granted cases
    7
    In denied cases
    1

  • ¶ 17(b) · The omission followed advice of counsel, and full cooperation followed

    In granted cases
    6
    In denied cases
    4

Circumstances credited in granted cases

The specific circumstances the judge expressly credited among the granted cases on this issue where that detail was extracted.
  • acknowledgment and remorse · credited in 5 granted cases
  • passage of time · credited in 1 granted case
  • rehabilitation evidence · credited in 1 granted case

Recent decided examples

  • ISCR Case No. 25-00923Granted2026

    Applicant, a federal contractor with a long-held clearance, admitted longstanding marijuana use and purchase, including while holding a sensitive position, and the Government also alleged a 2011 secur…

  • ISCR Case No. 24-01085Granted2026

    Applicant, a defense contractor quality assurance program manager and Navy veteran, faced allegations under Guidelines J, E, and H involving decades of criminal conduct, traffic offenses, workplace di…

  • ISCR Case No. 25-01419Denied2026

    The case involves security concerns under multiple guidelines, including criminal conduct, alcohol consumption, personal conduct, foreign influence, and financial considerations. The applicant admitte…

  • ISCR Case No. 26-00313Denied2026

    The case involves security concerns under Guidelines D and E, leading to the denial of the applicant's security clearance. The applicant was accused of viewing sexually explicit material involving min…

See all 627 decisions on this issue

Related issues under Guideline E

How these numbers are measured

Scope: decided hearing-level cases whose per-allegation profile records this issue, matched to the same issue value the search filters use, so a count here and a filtered search always agree. A case raising several issues counts under each one. The mitigating conditions and the credited circumstances below were extracted for a subset of the record, so both are counts of cases rather than rates. Pages exist only for issues with at least 25 decided cases, and † marks any split built on fewer than 20.

Reading the statistics

  • Granted = access granted or continued; Denied = denied or revoked.
  • Grant rate = granted ÷ (granted + denied).
  • † marks figures based on fewer than 20 cases, too few to be reliable.
  • Hovering any rate shows its statistical range (a 95% confidence interval).
  • Figures are descriptive counts over decided, public DOHA ISCR decisions, never predictions or assessments of any pending case.

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