Posted by Jack
This is a CBS story, but aside from the source I think if any of it is true, it needs to be fixed… like yesterday. I sure don’t like the looks of this one bit.
“It wasn’t that long ago that Donald Trump ran for president making the case that Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server as secretary of state represented a grave national security threat and made her unfit for office.
Evidence is now mounting that he and his White House have taken plenty of their own shortcuts, with the kind of dire implications Trump warned about. And now a key figure is stepping forward to blow the whistle on it.
The Post’s Rachael Bade reports on a new White House whistleblower who alleges that the Trump administration has awarded 25 security clearances to people who had been denied those clearances by national security officials.
Tricia Newbold has served 18 years in the security clearance process, in both Democratic and Republican administrations. She says the denials had been issued for reasons including concerns about potential blackmail, foreign influence, conflicts of interest, questionable or criminal conduct, financial issues and drug abuse. That’s a range of denials that covers pretty much all the major reasons one might not get cleared. She alleges that the administration has looked past all of them. She even says she was told not to raise concerns and retaliated against when she did, by being demoted.
By itself, the accusation would be serious. But it also affirms a whole host of reporting, and there seem to be plenty of people raising the same red flag. The Washington Post and others reported recently that Trump demanded that then-White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly get a long-delayed clearance for Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner. Kelly, a retired general, was reportedly so uncomfortable with the request that he memorialized it in a memo. The New York Times has reported that the then-White House counsel also wrote a memo to similar effect. Newbold has told the House Oversight Committee that another agency involved in the clearance process also complained. And the committee says other anonymous whistleblowers have come forward. In other words, there seem to be lots of people who could vouch for Newbold.
And this is merely the latest example of Trump and his administration flouting national security concerns with its day-to-day practices. To wit:
- He blurted out a highly classified piece of information to Russian leaders that risked jeopardizing a key foreign policy alliance.
- He has engaged in multiple highly secretive face-to-face meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin where even top national security officials were in the dark.
- He kept Michael Flynn on as national security adviser for weeks despite warnings that Flynn could be susceptible to blackmail because he had lied to the White House.
- He turned a dining room at Mar-a-Lago into an open-air situation room, strategizing about a North Korean missile launch with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
- There have been reports that Trump has disregarded advice from security experts about his cellphone use and even that he has pressed forward with an unsecured phone we know the Russians and Chinese can listen in on.
- Multiple top White House aides have reportedly used private email to discuss White House matters, both potentially flouting records laws and posing unnecessary security threats.
The hypocrisy side of it is one thing. This is a president, after all, who once said merely being negligent about email was disqualifying. He said Clinton was “putting all of America and our citizens in danger — great danger.” He added on Facebook that it was “a profound national security risk.”
But even setting that aside, the evidence of a fast-and-loose and even negligent approach to information security is building. One longtime national security aide has apparently thought it serious enough to go through the arduous process of being a public whistleblower, and she will apparently have some backup — both from other people and from documentation.”
I was going to respond, but then I noted the date of Jack’s post. Anyway, I’ll bet that Hillary still has her security clearance, as well as Clapper, Comey, Schiff, and all the other traitors.
They aren’t “traitors,” nutjob, nor would you be able to adequately explain why they shouldn’t have security clearances if you were given two weeks prep to do so.
CBS is at it again by doing the bidding of the Democrats. Cummings is just looking for another fake attack on Trump to distract voters from the real crimes committed by his party.
First, who leaked the name of the whistleblower and why? Whistleblower’s identity are classified and confidential.
Second, the Security Clearance process was set into place by an EO by Eisenhower. It’s not a law and any president can override the process the position itself established. In other words a president can’t violate his own authority.
Security Clearance history.
“Executive Orders
Executive Orders as they relate to security clearance, access to secure materials and national security.
Executive Order 10450
President Dwight D. Eisenhower issued Executive Order 10450 on April 27, 1953. Effective May 27, 1953, it revoked President Truman’s 1947 Executive Order 9835 and dismantled its Loyalty Review Board program. Instead it charged the heads of federal agencies and the Office of Personnel Management, supported by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), with investigating federal employees to determine whether they posed security risks. It expanded the definitions and conditions used to make such determinations.
Executive Order 10865
President Eisenhower signed Executive Order 10865 on February 20, 1960. Executive Order 10865 requires a hearing in which contractor employees would be given the opportunity to appear before the decision-maker to confront and cross-examine witnesses and attempt to rebut the Government’s case.
……….
Executive Order 12968
Executive Order 12968 was signed by U.S. President Bill Clinton on August 2, 1995. It established uniform policies for allowing employees of the federal government access to classified information. It detailed standards for disclosure, eligibility requirements and levels of access, and administrative procedures for granting or denying access and for appealing such determinations. It expanded on the President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s Executive Order 10450 of 1953.
Executive Order 13381
Executive Order 13381 was signed by U.S. President George W. Bush on June 27, 2005. It distributed authorities to administer clearance review process. It was to remain effective for one was to remain effective for one year and was extended for an additional year. It is a useful starting place to figure out who has what authority today.”
https://www.securityclearanceinfo.com/p/executive-orders.html
https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/codification/executive-order/11633.html
Bush EO 2008, last issued.
“On 30 June 2008 President Bush issued Executive Order 13467, which establishes a governance security clearance structure and a legal basis for major changes to the government’s personnel security program. It directs that the existing disparate processes for employment suitability, public trust, and security clearances be aligned into a unified coherent structure.”
https://news.clearancejobs.com/2009/07/21/executive-order-13467-unified-security-clearance-structure/
First, who leaked the name of the whistleblower and why? Whistleblower’s identity are classified and confidential.
Desperation leads to illiteracy. No one “leaked” her name, she came forward herself. You could have, you know, actually read that fact yourself, instead of being a partisan hack so dedicated to owning the libs that you didn’t even care if your assumption was true.
Second, the Security Clearance process was set into place by an EO by Eisenhower. It’s not a law and any president can override the process the position itself established. In other words a president can’t violate his own authority.
Show me in the article where it said that Trump violated the law. You can’t, because you didn’t read it. The issue is not whether the President can legally override the security clearance process, the issue is whether it was *wise* or even *responsible* for Trump to do so in these instances. You have no defense of his choices to do so, so you pivot to attacking a straw man by defending Trump on the legality rather than the substance. Pathetic. Do better. Expect more. “The President didn’t break the law” is literally the lowest standard imaginable, and it’s a standard that you seem to think, in this case and in the case of the Mueller investigation, immunizes Trump against all criticism for his stupid actions. You do not care about national security. Admit it.
I’m tellin’ ya, Jack. They will not pay attention until we start setting fire to things.
The rot is pervasive. This annoyed me 10 seconds into my morning CNN browse:
https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/01/politics/baltimore-catherine-pugh/index.html
I could probably find a half dozen other public officials in similar situations in about 30 seconds. A full dozen might take 90.
Sol Wisenberg: There’s no legal issue with security clearances:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YymXzw-XZE
Is it really your position that since the president can legally waive security clearances for anyone, no one should criticize him or be concerned when he does so for people that objectively should not have security clearances?
Maybe—and I realize this might be a radical idea to present to a “small government” conservative—one man shouldn’t have that much power? Have you considered the possibility that the law should be changed, in case a minority of Americans who happen to live in the right places to win the electoral college deign to elect an unqualified and ignorant boob into office again in order to own the libs again?
And without even looking … two:
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/04/02/walker-federal-corruption-probe-north-carolina-1249335
Thank you for highlighting this important story, Jack. Anyone who cares about our national security should be deeply troubled by Trump’s recklessness here.
I’m not surprised you need to take a breather … the swamp creatures abound and abide …
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/04/03/health-department-suspends-contracts-with-gop-linked-consultants-1320648
I could write speeches. Where are my millions?
Aside from this…
This week the president said that noise from wind turbines cause cancer (it does not) and that his father was born in Germany (he was born in New York).
These go beyond his usual lies and into…what? Delusion? Dementia?
Whatever it is, Trump’s complete disconnection from facts seems to be getting worse, not better. It is inherently a national security risk to have someone like that in the Oval Office. The president needs to have the ability to make rational decisions based on sound evidence. When the president literally cannot distinguish between truth and falsehood, that is a national security risk.
Somehow I missed this:
“Someone’s gonna leak this whole damn speech to the media,” Trump worried aloud. It was a valid fear, given that reporters were in the room and C-SPAN cameras were covering the speech live.
He is not well. I’m glad you’re starting to worry.
Trump makes cucks of us all…
Question: “Do wind turbines cause cancer?”
Mercedes Schlapp, White House Director of Strategic Communications: “I don’t have an answer to that.”
https://twitter.com/thehill/status/1113565589836972033
The answer is no! Just say no, idiot!
I will never understand why so many on Trump’s staff willingly humiliate themselves in public for him like this…what do they think they are going to gain when this is all over?
Off-topic: What an absolutely horrible human being.
President Trump said he was not surprised by former first lady Barbara Bush’s attacks on him, as posthumously quoted in a new biography.
“I have heard that she was nasty to me, but she should be. Look what I did to her sons,” he told The Washington Times in an exclusive Oval Office interview.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/apr/4/donald-trump-reacts-barbara-bush-quotes/
It isn’t enough that he’s the most powerful person on earth…the idea that someone, somewhere, might have criticized him is enough to drive him to madness.
Which would mean he shouldn’t be the most powerful person on earth, wouldn’t it?
But he does inspire the most entertaining commentary …
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/04/trump-week-ghastly.html
Great article, Libby. The final paragraph especially stood out to me:
Of course, many of our presidents have, at various times, engaged in corruption, debasement of the office, recklessness, and clueless governance. What makes this era special is that those things are always all happening, at the same time, interspersed with random baffling events like the president lying about or forgetting what hemisphere his father was born in. And this is potentially going to be happening for another six years! My goodness.
All presidents have had their flaws. This president has all of them, with no corresponding redeeming qualities. I can find something nice to say about nearly all modern presidents, regardless of political affiliation: The Bushes were compassionate and tolerant. Reagan did some good things for the economy and wasn’t the small government extremist his detractors or devotees portray him as. As for nominees, Mitt Romney and John McCain were both decent men, and we should have really listened to Mitt Romney about Russia.
But I can find nothing nice to say about Trump. He’s a fundamentally awful human being. He lacks intelligence, manners, decorum, compassion, empathy, curiosity, true strength, and every other positive quality one can imagine. And this was all known before he was chosen as president by a smaller number of Americans than those who rejected him in favor of a candidate that, while also flawed, was objectively more qualified, dignified, and suited to the job than he is.
I’ll never not be angry about this.
Trump’s dreadful, unpresidential behavior is one thing. This is something else entirely. I am not a happy camper. Actually, I haven’t been ever since Trump took office. The only thing I am thankful for is that Hillary is history, and good riddance to that incompetent, venal goon.
That said, I thought Trump’s retweeting of the Biden creeping up on Biden video was hilarious. Unpresidential but hilarious.