House Oversight Panel Launches Inquiry Into White House Security Clearances

[GMDino]

And so the clean up begins...

https://www.npr.org/2019/01/23/687898389/house-oversight-panel-launches-inquiry-into-white-house-security-clearances

Quote:House Oversight Committee Democrats have launched an investigation into who got security clearances in President Trump's administration following the 2016 election, as well as how and why.


Chairman Elijah Cummings, D-Md., outlined the goals of his inquiry in a letter to the White House on Wednesday.


The committee wants "to determine why the White House and transition team appear to have disregarded established procedures for safeguarding classified information" and "evaluate the extent to which the nation's most highly guarded secrets were provided to officials who should not have had access to them," Cummings wrote.


The White House has not adequately explained why former national security adviser Michael Flynn did not have his security clearance revoked after officials learned about his conversations with the Russian ambassador, Cummings said.


Flynn has since pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI and is currently awaiting sentencing. Prosecutors have described him as a model cooperator.


Cummings named a number of other Trump administration officials, including Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law and adviser, who reportedly neglected to properly disclose meetings with foreign officials as part of his security clearance application.



Kushner temporarily lost his top secret clearance last year but ultimately regained it after a marathon meeting with Justice Department officials.


The committee is also interested in former White House aide Rob Porter, who left the White House in 2018 after allegations that he had abused two ex-wives. He has denied those allegations.


The committee wants to understand the process behind Porter's background check and why the abuse allegations didn't come to light sooner.

White House Response To Lawmakers On Security Clearances 'Inadequate'


"For the past two years, I have sought information with other committee members about a series of extremely troubling incidents regarding the security clearances of some of President Trump's top aides, but the White House has refused to provide the information we requested, often ignoring our requests completely," Cummings said in his letter.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.


Trump and his allies have said they are wary about what they have called a program of "presidential harassment" from congressional Democrats under the guise of oversight and investigation.

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Bradley Moss, an attorney specializing in security clearance issues who is not involved with the committee's efforts, said that what will be critical is establishing whether proper protocols were followed and analyzed by the correct government officials.


"It is important to reassure the public, especially when we are talking about top officials like Michael Flynn and Jared Kushner, that experienced adjudicators, not political players, were making these important security decisions," he said.

White House Security Clearance Trouble Shines Light On 'High Risk' Backlog Problem


Cummings is not just interested in documents from the White House for this security clearance investigation.The oversight committee is specifically interested in Trump's current national security adviser, John Bolton, and his onetime participation in a Russian gun rights campaign.


Bolton recorded a video in 2013 for The Right To Bear Arms, a Russian gun rights group then run by Maria Butina, the Russian woman who has admitted serving as a clandestine agent for Russia.


NPR has previously reported that Bolton was asked to do the video by a former president of the National Rifle Association.


Cummings asked the NRA in a letter Wednesday to provide any documents related to Bolton's foreign contacts.


Information received from the NRA could be checked against Bolton's security clearance paperwork for consistency regarding foreign contacts he may have had.
Cummings also asked for more information about the NRA's subcommittee on international affairs, a largely opaque group that Bolton was appointed to head in 2011. The committee told the NRA that it expected a response by Feb. 6.


The NRA has not responded to a request for comment.

[*bfine32*]

Quote:The committee wants "to determine why the White House and transition team appear to have disregarded established procedures for safeguarding classified information" and "evaluate the extent to which the nation's most highly guarded secrets were provided to officials who should not have had access to them," Cummings wrote.

Leave it to the Dems to want to ensure established procedures safeguarding classified information is followed. You cannot make this up.

FWIW,I hope anyone that knowingly compromised classified information is punished to the full extent.

[GMDino]

(01-24-2019, 06:29 PM)bfine32 Wrote: Leave it to the Dems to want to ensure established procedures safeguarding classified information is followed. You cannot make this up.

FWIW,I hope anyone that knowingly compromised classified information is punished to the full extent.

You spelled "leave it the Democrats on the oversight committee to actually provide oversight" wrong.

[*bfine32*]

(01-24-2019, 06:37 PM)GMDino Wrote: You spelled "leave it the Democrats on the oversight committee to actually provide oversight" wrong.

Nah, I just gave the long definition of irony. 

[GMDino]

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/officials-rejected-jared-kushner-top-secret-security-clearance-were-overruled-n962221?cid=sm_npd_ms_fb_ma

Quote:WASHINGTON — Jared Kushner's application for a top secret clearance was rejected by two career White House security specialists after an FBI background check raised concerns about potential foreign influence on him — but their supervisor overruled the recommendation and approved the clearance, two sources familiar with the matter told NBC News.



The official, Carl Kline, is a former Pentagon employee who was installed as director of the personnel security office in the Executive Office of the President in May 2017. Kushner's was one of at least 30 cases in which Kline overruled career security experts and approved a top secret clearance for incoming Trump officials despite unfavorable information, the two sources said. They said the number of rejections that were overruled was unprecedented — it had happened only once in the three years preceding Kline's arrival.

The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the information, said the Trump White House attracted many people with untraditional backgrounds who had complicated financial and personal histories, some of which raised red flags.


Kushner's FBI background check identified questions about his family's business, his foreign contacts, his foreign travel and meetings he had during the campaign, the sources said, declining to be more specific.

The White House office only determines eligibility for secret and top secret clearances. As a very senior official, Kushner was seeking an even higher designation that would grant him access to what is known as "sensitive compartmented information," or SCI. That material makes up the government's most sensitive secrets, including transcripts of intercepted foreign communications, CIA source reporting and other intelligence seemingly important for Kushner, whose job portfolio covers the Mideast and Mexico.


The CIA is the agency that decides whether to grant SCI clearance to senior White House officials after conducting a further background check.


After Kline overruled the White House security specialists and recommended Kushner for a top secret clearance, Kushner's file then went to the CIA for a ruling on SCI.


After reviewing the file, CIA officers who make clearance decisions balked, two of the people familiar with the matter said. One called over to the White House security division, wondering how Kushner got even a top secret clearance, the sources said. Top secret information is defined as material that would cause "exceptionally grave damage" to national security if disclosed to adversaries.


The sources say the CIA has not granted Kushner clearance to review SCI material. That would mean Kushner lacks access to key intelligence unless President Trump decides to override the rules, which is the president's' prerogative. The Washington Post reported in July 2018 that Kushner was not given an "SCI" clearance. CIA spokesman Timothy Barrett said, "The CIA does not comment on individual security clearances."


"What you are reporting is what all of us feared," said Brad Moss, a lawyer who represents persons seeking security clearances. "The normal line adjudicators looked at the FBI report…saw the foreign influence concerns, but were overruled by the quasi-political supervisor."


"We don't comment on security clearances," White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said when asked for comment.


NBC News was unable to reach Carl Kline for comment. Kushner's lawyer, Abbe Lowell, had no comment.
The sources said they did not know whether Kline was in communication with senior political White House officials. They say he overruled career bureaucrats at least 30 times, granting top secret clearances to officials in the Executive Office of the President or the White House after adjudicators working for him recommended against doing so.
[/url][url=https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=Jared%20Kushner%20loses%20top%20security%20clearance&via=nbcnews&url=https://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/video/jared-kushner-loses-top-security-clearance-1172104259608&original_referer=https://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/video/jared-kushner-loses-top-security-clearance-1172104259608]
The reasons for denying a clearance can include debts, a criminal past or questions about foreign entanglements. Anything in a person's background that could make them vulnerable to blackmail can be a factor.
Kushner's application followed the normal path for security clearance. It passed a "suitability review" in the White House and then went to the FBI for a background investigation.


Following the FBI investigation, the case went back to the White House office of personnel security, where a career adjudicator reviewed the FBI information, including questions about foreign influence and foreign business entanglements, the sources said.

The Washington Post, citing current and former U.S. officials familiar with intelligence reports on the matter, reported last February that officials in at least four countries had privately discussed ways they could manipulate Kushner by taking advantage of his complex business arrangements, financial difficulties and lack of foreign policy experience.



Among those nations discussing ways to influence Kushner to their advantage, according to the current and former officials, were the United Arab Emirates, China, Israel and Mexico, the Post reported.


On the basis of potential foreign influence, the adjudicator deemed Kushner's application "unfavorable" and handed it to a supervisor.
[/url][url=https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=Rpt:%20Foreign%20officials%20have%20discussed%20how%20to%20manipulate%20Kushner&via=nbcnews&url=https://www.msnbc.com/brian-williams/watch/rpt-foreign-officials-have-discussed-how-to-manipulate-kushner-1172358723957&original_referer=https://www.msnbc.com/brian-williams/watch/rpt-foreign-officials-have-discussed-how-to-manipulate-kushner-1172358723957]
The supervisor agreed with the "unfavorable" determination and gave it to Kline, the head of the office at the time, who overruled the "unfavorable" determination and approved Kushner for "top secret" security clearance, the sources said.


"No one else gets that kind of treatment," Moss said. "My clients would get body slammed if they did that."
Sources also told NBC News career employees of the White House office disagreed with other steps Kline took, including ceasing credit checks on security clearance applicants. The sources said Kline cited a data breach at the credit reporting firm Equifax.


Kline is the subject of an October 2018 Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaint viewed by NBC News that was filed by Tricia Newbold, a current employee. Newbold has a rare form of dwarfism and the complaint alleges Kline discriminated against her because of her height.


Her complaint states that in December 2017, Kline moved security files to a new location which was too high and out of her reach and told her, "You have people, have them get you the files you need; or you can ask me."


Her attorney, Ed Passman, told NBC News, "My client has been subjected to ongoing discrimination by a ruthless supervisor who was destroying the personnel security division by granting security clearances over the objections of civil servant recommendations."


In a letter to her family obtained by NBC News, Newbold described Kline's behavior towards her as "aggressive," involving "emotional and psychological abuse" starting in July 2017, a few months after he took over the office.


In the same letter, Newbold wrote that she also had serious concerns about how Kline "continuously changes policy" and makes "reckless security judgments". She added that Kline's decisions "if disclosed, can cause embarrassment and negative attention to the administration."


Newbold raised concerns about Kline's behavior with her second level supervisor regarding his "hostility and integrity" according to the EEOC complaint.


The EEOC confirmed to Newbold’s attorney that an investigation of her claims was conducted. He is now waiting to hear if his client will be granted a hearing.



The House Oversight Committee, now run by Rep. Elijah Cummings, D.-Md., announced yesterday that it is digging into how Kushner obtained his security clearance.

[*michaelsean*]

Just so I’m clear, this isn’t looking into potential criminal acts but rather going against established protocol correct? Meaning they can legally do what they did, but it could potentially jeopardize national security by giving people clearance they really shouldn’t have.

[Au165]

(01-25-2019, 08:10 AM)michaelsean Wrote: Just so I’m clear, this isn’t looking into potential criminal acts but rather going against established protocol correct?  Meaning they can legally do what they did, but it could potentially jeopardize national security by giving people clearance they really shouldn’t have.

Yes, however if they lied on the application it could be criminal.

[Belsnickel]

(01-25-2019, 08:10 AM)michaelsean Wrote: Just so I’m clear, this isn’t looking into potential criminal acts but rather going against established protocol correct? Meaning they can legally do what they did, but it could potentially jeopardize national security by giving people clearance they really shouldn’t have.

Yes. This is Congress picking the ball up on their oversight role after it had been neglected for two years, but this isn't a criminal investigation.

(01-25-2019, 09:14 AM)Au165 Wrote: Yes, however if they lied on the application it could be criminal.

Yes. My understanding from former WH staffers is that in any other administration, Kushner would have been behind bars with how many edits he made after turning in his form. That is unheard of.