A top Democrat threatened to subpoena the White House if it does not turn over requested information regarding its security clearance process.
House Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings, D-Md., said Thursday his panel expects “full compliance with its requests as soon as possible” after the New York Times reported President Trump told former chief of staff John Kelly to give his son-in-law Jared Kushner a top secret security clearance, despite objections from former White House counsel Don McGahn and U.S. intelligence officials.
The Oversight Committee launched an investigation in January into the clearance protocol, asking the White House for documents and interviews relating to Kushner’s clearance. Cummings said the panel has not received “a single document or scheduled a single interview.”
“It may become necessary to consider alternative means to compel compliance,” he said in a statement.
Trump told the Times last month that he played no role in Kushner obtaining a clearance. Ivanka Trump, the president’s daughter and Kushner’s wife, told ABC News in early February that her father “had no involvement” in her or her husband’s clearance.
Democrats have urged the White House to revoke Kushner’s clearance since 2017.
Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., said Trump has “jeopardized” national security by granting clearances to “unscrupulous people.” “We will work to ensure clearances are granted based on trust, not by blood or bond,” Swalwell said.
Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., urged government officials to not share any top secret information with Kushner. “Your loyalty is to America, not to Kushner or Trump,” he said.
