Battle Over Security Clearances Accelerates With Report Of Trump Intervention
The White House and the leader of the House oversight committee are squaring off for what could become a battle royale over security clearances within the Trump administration.
Chairman Elijah Cummings, D-Md., launched an investigation in January into the White House’s practices in awarding clearances to top aides. On Friday, he said he’s accelerating those efforts following a report that President Trump intervened personally to grant access to his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, over aides’ objections.
Cummings says the radio silence he’s gotten so far from the White House is unacceptable.
“To date, the White House has not produced a single document or scheduled a single interview,” he said. “The committee expects full compliance with its requests as soon as possible, or it may become necessary to consider alternative means to compel compliance.”
Translation: Cummings and majority Democrats may try to compel material from within the administration that tells the story of Trump’s clearance practices, especially two key memos that were described on Thursday in The New York Times.
