A White House whistleblower is accusing President Donald Trump of overriding national security concerns to give improper security clearances to 25 people who had been turned down for having “serious disqualifying issues.â€
POLITICO has just reported that White House Personnel Security Office employee Tricia Newbold gave testimony to the House Oversight and Reform Committee concerning what she said was a “systematic breakdown†in the White House security clearance process.
Newbold told the congressional hearing that she decided to come forward and reveal her confidential information to them because her attempts to deal with her concerns internally were completely ignored by the Trump administration.
Newbold explained her reasons this way:
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“I do not see a way forward positively in our office without coming to an external entity, and that’s because I have raised my concerns throughout the Executive Office of the President to career staffers as well as political staffers.â€
“And I want it known that this is a systematic, it’s an office issue, and we’re not a political office, but these decisions were being continuously overrode.â€
Newbold also told the committee that coming to Congress was her “last hope†to bring “integrity†back to her office.
“I 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 added in her interview with Oversight Committee staffers.
According to POLITICO:
“Newbold laid out a series of explosive allegations, often implicating Carl Kline, the former White House personnel security chief. She kept a list of White House officials whose clearance applications were initially denied but eventually overruled, and said the list included as many as 25 people, some of whom had daily access to the president.”
Committee staff members summarized the testimony by writing:
“According to Ms. Newbold, these individuals had a wide range of serious disqualifying issues involving foreign influence, conflicts of interest, concerning personal conduct, financial problems, drug use, and criminal conduct.â€Â
Our Nation Is At Risk — Thanks to Donald Trump
By granting top secret security clearances to people who were initially denied access to top-secret information by U.S. intelligence officials, Trump has put our entire nation at risk. This means the White House is full of dangerous people who cannot be trusted.
It is time for us to change presidents and get a leader of our country who can be trusted and who will look out for the national security interests of the United States.
I am a lifelong Democrat with a passion for social justice and progressive issues. I have degrees in writing, economics and law from the University of Iowa.
