RED FLAGS

Whistleblower: 25 White House Staff Got Security Clearances Despite Criminal Conduct, Conflicts of Interest

Individuals under foreign influence, with conflicts of interest, drug use, and criminal conduct were all granted security clearances.

A White House Personnel Security Office employee told a House panel in March that her supervisor routinely overruled her and granted high-level security clearances to as many as 25 individuals who had issues that included drug problems, past criminal conduct, and conflicts of interest, according to a memo prepared for committee members cited Monday by Politico. Tricia Newbold, whom the memo describes as a “nonpartisan” 18-year veteran of the office, told the committee that becoming a whistleblower was her “last hope to really bring the integrity back into our office,” and alleged that her superiors had overruled as many as 25 security-clearance denials—including the denials of “two current senior White House officials.” Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner are both part of that 25, according to CNN correspondent Alexander Marquardt.

The individuals that she denied, she added, were rejected over “a wide range of serious disqualifying issues involving foreign influence, conflicts of interest, concerning personal conduct, financial problems, drug use, and criminal conduct.” Nevertheless, she claims, her decisions were overruled and the individuals were given high-level clearances. Newbold previously alleged that in retaliation for raising her concerns about Jared Kushner’s clearance, her boss, Carl Kline, attempted to humiliate her for her dwarfism.

TROUBLING

‘Whistleblower’ in WH Security-Clearance Office Suspended

Victoria Albert