The top Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Tuesday asked the White House for more information about the security clearance of a personal assistant to President Trump who was fired just hours earlier.
Trump fired John McEntee for an unspecified security issue, and Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., responded by asking White House chief of staff John Kelly for all documents related to McEntee’s clearance. That includes his security clearance application, the investigative report from the FBI on McEntee, and records he was required to complete to work in the White House.
“This recent report about President Trump’s personal assistant is just the latest indication that the process for vetting White House employees for security issues is seriously flawed,” Cummings wrote in a letter to Kelly. “The White House’s ongoing obstruction of congressional oversight appears to be an attempt to conceal from the American people pervasive and widespread dysfunction inside the White House, which directly threatens our nation’s security.”
The Trump campaign announced Tuesday that McEntee would join the re-election effort as a senior adviser for campaign operations.
The White House’s security clearance process came under scrutiny over the last few weeks, after former White House staff secretary Rob Porter resigned last month.
Two of Porter’s ex-wives came forward and said he physically and verbally abused them during their respective marriages. Both women said they spoke with the FBI about Porter’s behavior during background interviews.
The revelations about Porter, who had an interim security clearance, raised questions about who in the White House knew of the domestic violence allegations and when, and prompted a review of the White House’s process for approving security clearances.
Kelly overhauled the security clearance process last month in response to the Porter scandal. As a result of his changes, numerous White House aides who had been working with top secret or SCI-level interim clearances, including Jared Kushner, had their clearances downgraded.
The House Oversight Committee opened an investigation into Porter’s employment last month and requested information from Kelly. But the White House declined to turn over the requested information.
“I have been warning for more than a year about the White House’s deficient background check process — as well as specific officials who have been granted access to our nation’s most closely guarded secrets despite derogatory information known to White House officials — but you have stonewalled congressional oversight efforts and refused to provide any documents requested by me or Chairman Trey Gowdy,” Cummings wrote.
