42. Integrity is undermined by vulnerability to blackmail
SPs should not put themselves in positions in which they can be blackmailed, because this limits their power to do their jobs properly. Susceptibility to blackmail arises when others know or could find out that an SP has acted improperly, because threats of revelation can push the SP into new improper behavior or passivity. For this reason SPs must remain alert to attempts to maneuver them or those around them into vulnerable positions.
When it became publicly known that a state secretary for defense had had an extramarital affair, a former minister took the view that the state secretary would do best to resign: “He has knowledge of state secrets and has therefore been vulnerable to foreign powers and has lost authority at home.”218 So this SP was required to leave his post simply for having been in a vulnerable position. Why does this matter and why is it important for every SP to avoid getting into a vulnerable position?
People with integrity are people with the power to do what is expected of the job. This power means that they can do what they should. However, this power is limited if they fall under the power of others, if others can make them do things that go against their own will and the demands of their jobs. One way of achieving this is blackmail, compelling people to behave wrongly by improper means. People susceptible to blackmail are vulnerable: they are open to abuse of power. This vulnerability damages their authority and trustworthiness, as this vulnerability raises the risk that they will be forced to abuse their power. Even if no blackmail has taken place, simply the chance of it can lead to SPs losing their jobs.
A position vulnerable to blackmail arises when others find out that an SP has done something showing a lack of integrity and use this knowledge to make the SP behave inappropriately. The threat lies in the fact that the person blackmailed has an interest in the information being kept secret, for instance to avoid the commotion it could cause. A candidate for chancellor in Germany was blackmailed by an unknown person two weeks before the elections, threatening to reveal that an illegal migrant had worked as a cleaner for his family fourteen years previously unless he withdrew from the elections immediately. The above-mentioned secretary of state was also vulnerable to people who knew of his affair as long as it remained a secret to the general public. By threatening to expose this knowledge these people could make him act inappropriately, for instance passing on state secrets. People do not necessarily become susceptible to blackmail if they have behaved inappropriately, but they may become susceptible if further revelation of their behavior has the potential to disadvantage them.219 When the state secretary’s relationship became known he was therefore no longer vulnerable to blackmail.
Vulnerability to blackmail can cause people to do things they should not and to fail to do things they should. For example, they may fail to correct the inappropriate behavior of others. President John F. Kennedy and his brother were slow to confront FBI director Edgar Hoover about his inappropriate behavior because they were afraid Hoover would leak information concerning the president’s extramarital affair.220 This also happened to the French government when master criminal Alexandre Stavisky involved them in his fraudulent practices to such an extent that they did not dare to confront him, because Stavisky would reveal incriminating information about them.221
The best way to avoid vulnerability to blackmail is, of course, to behave with integrity and in particular not to do anything that would damage your reputation if revealed. If you become vulnerable, then the task is to avoid people with an interest in and the wherewithal for blackmail from finding out. Even if you make others accessories to your actions, you must still be careful not to rely too much on their loyalty. At a cer