In the midst of Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner’s debacle over his security clearance, a White House employee is blowing the whistle and shedding some light on just how deep Trump’s questionable security clearance decisions have run — alleging that POTUS has blatantly ignored national security concerns by giving improper security clearance to a total of 25 individuals who had previously been denied for “serious disqualifying issues.”
According to POLITICO, White House Personnel Security office employee Tricia Newbold testified in front of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, which has been running an investigation on the security clearance breeches, sayng that she sees a “systematic breakdown” in the security clearance process employed by the White House.
Newbold said she made the decision to blow the whistle on the happenings within the White House and reveal her confidential information because she was unable to defuse the situation internally. The White House employee told the congressional hearing that all of her attempts to address the security clearance problem were blatantly disregarded by the Trump administration.
In the congressional hearing, Newbold stated:
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. 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.”
Newbold made it clear to the committee that she felt coming to Congress was her “last hope” to restore “integrity” in 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 stated to Oversight Committee staff.
POLITICO reported:
“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.”
Oversight Committee staff summarized the interview with:
“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.”
It seems that Donald’s attempt to screw over our nation’s security didn’t end with his son-in-law — he’s been passing out top-secret security clearance like balloons at a parade. But his time may very well be up as more and more employees inside the White House no longer desire to be a part of the ruse.
Featured image via DC Tribune gallery
