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House Dems seek answers on Kushner, Flynn security clearances
Source: CNN
House Dems seek answers on Kushner, Flynn security clearances
By Tom LoBianco and Manu Raju, CNN
Updated 5:32 PM ET, Wed June 21, 2017
(CNN) - Democrats on a key House panel are pressing the White House on why former national security adviser Michael Flynn was allowed to maintain top-level security clearances despite allegations of security concerns while Flynn was at the White House.
Rep. Elijah Cummings, the top Democrat on the House oversight committee, specifically cites Acting Attorney General Sally Yates' explicit warning to White House counsel Don McGahn that Flynn was likely vulnerable to blackmail by Russians, based on intelligence reports she reviewed. Cummings cites Yates' public comments that, rather than asking about Flynn's possible security breach, McGahn reportedly asked why the White House should be handling it.
Cummings, in his letter released Wednesday, notes that Flynn continued holding his security clearance, despite the warning from Yates.
Cummings cites an executive order requiring employees to have their security clearance preemptively suspended if they are suspected of being a national security risk.
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In the letter, Cummings describes "parallel concerns" with Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump's son-in-law and a senior adviser. The lawmaker notes Kushner's undisclosed phone calls with Russian ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak, and undisclosed meetings he had with Kislyak and the CEO of Vnesheconombank, a state-run Russian bank under US sanctions.
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By Tom LoBianco and Manu Raju, CNN
Updated 5:32 PM ET, Wed June 21, 2017
(CNN) - Democrats on a key House panel are pressing the White House on why former national security adviser Michael Flynn was allowed to maintain top-level security clearances despite allegations of security concerns while Flynn was at the White House.
Rep. Elijah Cummings, the top Democrat on the House oversight committee, specifically cites Acting Attorney General Sally Yates' explicit warning to White House counsel Don McGahn that Flynn was likely vulnerable to blackmail by Russians, based on intelligence reports she reviewed. Cummings cites Yates' public comments that, rather than asking about Flynn's possible security breach, McGahn reportedly asked why the White House should be handling it.
Cummings, in his letter released Wednesday, notes that Flynn continued holding his security clearance, despite the warning from Yates.
Cummings cites an executive order requiring employees to have their security clearance preemptively suspended if they are suspected of being a national security risk.
[font size=1]-snip-[/font]
In the letter, Cummings describes "parallel concerns" with Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump's son-in-law and a senior adviser. The lawmaker notes Kushner's undisclosed phone calls with Russian ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak, and undisclosed meetings he had with Kislyak and the CEO of Vnesheconombank, a state-run Russian bank under US sanctions.
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Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/21/politics/democrats-michael-flynn-jared-kushner/index.html