Republicans: Relax, Trump Only Endangered National Security 4–5 Times, Tops

Back in February, numerous outlets reported that the only reason Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner received top-secret security clearance last May was because President Daddy demanded it, over the objections of intelligence officials, the White House’s top lawyer, and the chief of staff at the time, all of whom worried that the First Daughter and Son-in-Law’s business entanglements and lack of experience made them prime targets for manipulation by foreign powers. (This was particularly true of of Kushner, whose family recently received a bailout from his new friends in the Middle East.) And now, we’ve learned that Javanka weren’t the only ones who allegedly got the green light to access America’s most important intelligence, despite major red flags in their files. According to whistleblower testimony from a longtime security adviser, overturning clearance denials for individuals with major skeletons in their closets has become something of an official Trump administration policy!

Speaking to lawmakers last week, Tricia Newbold, an 18-year career employee currently serving in the White House Personnel Security Office, said she “would not be doing a service to myself, my country, or my children if I sat back knowing that the issues that we have could impact national security.” Newbold said that in 2018, she began keeping a list of White House employees whose security-clearance denials had been overruled, a list that grew to a mind-boggling 25 names, “including two current senior White House officials, as well as contractors and individuals.” During her interview with the Committee on Oversight and Reform, Newbold said the individuals had received denials due to a “wide range of serious disqualifying issues involving foreign influence, conflicts of interest, concerning personal conduct, financial problems, drug use, and criminal conduct.” While she understood that her and other career employees’ decisions could be overruled, she was initially concerned “that these decisions were occurring without proper analysis, documentation, or a full understanding and acceptance of the risks.” Newbold, who said she exhausted all avenues to resolve her concerns before coming to the Committee, accused Director of Personnel Security Carl Kline of:

Trying to get her to change her denial recommendation for a “high-profile official at the National Security Council,” with whom she said Kline spoke on the phone with daily;

Failing to address “disqualifying concerns” listed by Newbold and a first-line adjudicator when it came to overturning a denial for a senior White House official, and merely noting in the file that the worrisome “activities occurred prior to Federal service”;

Telling Newbold “do not touch” the application of a second “very senior White House official,” who another reviewer believed had “multiple disqualifiers, including foreign influence and outside activities” (Kline granted this person a security clearance);

Implementing a policy wherein the White House no longer checks the credit of applicants—which prevents reviewers from knowing whether applicants “could be susceptible to blackmail, depending on their debts”;

Overseeing a situation wherein the White House was “getting out of control” with the number of interim security clearances granted, enabling individuals to access sensitive, classified information for long periods of time.

Perhaps most disturbing was the retaliation Newbold said she experienced for raising concerns about risks to national security, according to the committee’s summary of her interview:

According to Ms. Newbold, the retaliation against her for raising her national security concerns began in January of 2018, when Mr. Kline began taking actions that were designed to humiliate her as a result of her rare form of dwarfism. According to Ms. Newbold, Mr. Kline repeatedly altered her office environment to cause impediments to her work, such as physically elevating personnel security files out of her reach. Ms. Newbold informed Committee staff: “These are files that we work with every day. That’s an essential part of our job.” She explained that when she let Mr. Kline know this was a problem, he replied, “I have people, they can get the files for me.” Ms. Newbold responded, “no, sir, that’s not acceptable accommodation.” She raised her concerns repeatedly to Employee Relations personnel and other White House officials, but it took approximately two months to make an accommodation so she could reach the files. According to Ms. Newbold, the files were moved out of her reach again in the spring of 2018 and yet again in October 2018.

Newbold, who said she was suspended without pay for 14 days in late January despite “no prior formal disciplinary action” in her 18 years on the job, and subsequently removed from her position as a direct supervisor, told the panel she’s “terrified of going back,” adding, “I know that this will not be perceived in favor of my intentions, which is to bring back the integrity of the office.”

In a letter to White House counsel Pat Cipollone, Representative Elijah Cummings wrote that “in light of the grave reports from this whistleblower—and the ongoing refusal of the White House to provide the information we need to conduct our investigation—the committee now plans to proceed with compulsory process and begin authorizing subpoenas, starting at tomorrow’s business meeting.” Republicans, meanwhile, say Democrats are “misusing” Newbold’s testimony to “embarrass senior White House officials” and “manufacture a misleading narrative that the Trump White House is reckless with our national security.” They’re also not entirely sure Newbold can be trusted due to complaints she raised about Kline—who, as a reminder, seemingly retaliated against her by, among other things, placing files where she couldn’t reach them. Bottom line? This is all much ado about nothing:

It’s just 4–5 people, O.K.? And, let’s not lose sight of the real national-security threat: every day Hillary Clinton is free to roam the streets.