I was in the USAF intelligence service many years ago.   It may have changed since then, but this is how it went.   1) this is not useless information as several say.  The information this woman intercepted added tactical and strategic knowledge that can save lives.   To give one example, as was revealed seven years ago, USAF and army intelligence intercepted information just prior to the Tet Offensive in Vietnam in 1968 that saved many American and South Vietnamese lives and led to a military victory (though a political defeat.)   We did not hear about it for more than forty years.   So don't assume anything about the importance of what the intelligence services do by what we know today.   2) she was not an intelligence analyst, she was a collector.   She appears to have a great facility with difficult languages, not necessarily other duties.  3) we do not know what her politics were when she entered the USAF four years ago when she was cleared.  4) the FBI does background clearances.