House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz is demanding answers from the White House over reports President Trump discussed a sensitive national security issue in an open area at Mar-a-Lago this weekend.
Multiple reports and social media posts claimed Trump, during dinner with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, took a call on his phone on North Korea’s test of an intermediate-range ballistic missile, while sitting at a table in a crowded dining room at the Palm Beach, Fla., resort. He then huddled with then-national security adviser Michael Flynn and chief strategist Steve Bannon, while they poured over documents and made phone calls on the situation, according to CNN. First lady Melania Trump and Abe’s wife, Akie, were also seated at the table.
“Accounts and photographs from other diners seem to indicate these communications occurred in the presence of other guests,” Chaffetz wrote in a letter Tuesday addressed to Trump’s chief of staff, Reince Priebus. “Reportedly, documents were provided by what appeared to be White House staff for the president’s review while the dinner proceeded.”
“Discussions with foreign leaders regarding international missile tests, and documents used to support those discussions, are presumptively sensitive,” the Utah Republican added.
The letter includes five points that Chaffetz asks the White House to explain, including whether proper security protocols were taken and if guests were properly vetted to make certain that they weren’t spies.
Asked about the public scene Monday, White House press secretary Sean Spicer assured reporters that Trump had used a sensitive compartmented information facility, in order to protect sensitive phone conversaton, though it is unclear when Trump did so. CNN reports that the SCIF is portable and can fit inside a hotel room.
“The President was briefed in a SCIF prior to dinner,” Spicer said. “They were reviewing the logistics for the press conference … [the] president was subsequently briefed in a classified setting.”
Chaffetz asked the White House to further explain what precautions, beyond the SCIF, were taken to protect any sensitive information. The letter, which was carbon copied to ranking member Elijah Cummings, D-Md., asks for a response as soon as possible, but no later than Feb. 28, two weeks from now.
“While the president is always on duty, and cannot dictate the timing of when he needs to receive sensitive information about urgent matters, we hope the White House will cooperate in providing the committee with additional information,” Chaffetz said.
