Senate Democrats demand Trump order review of White House security clearances

Senate Democrats are pressing President Trump to authorize a review of White House security clearances after the intelligence community inspector general and Office of Director of National Intelligence said they lacked the authority to do so.

Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson wrote in a letter to the senators earlier this month that he could not begin a review of the security clearance process without direction from Trump or one of his “designees” because “the authority over access to classified information ultimately rests with the President of the United States.”

{mosads}The group of senators, which includes the Senate Intelligence Committee’s top Democrat, Mark Warner (Va.), asked Trump in a letter on Wednesday to order the director of national intelligence to begin the review, citing news reports about “questionable decisions” made regarding the security clearances of Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband, senior adviser Jared Kushner.

They wrote that Congress would need to “take a more direct role” in overseeing the security clearance process to safeguard national security if the White House ultimately declines to initiate such a review.

“We believe a new review is necessary to address the allegations that have been raised and, if necessary, implement corrective action,” the senators wrote. “Without such a review, it will be incumbent upon Congress to take a more direct role in overseeing and legislating on [Executive Office of the President] security clearances to protect national security.”  

The senators in early March asked Atkinson and Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats to begin a review of the Trump administration’s compliance with policies and procedures governing security clearances and access to classified information.

Both responded earlier this month, declining to carry out the request because of the president’s broad authority over the issuance of security clearances.

“It is well-established that the President of the United States has broad latitude concerning the process through which security clearances are granted, transferred, or revoked, as well as broad flexibility in determining whom to choose as his advisors and to what extent those advisors may gain access to information, including national security information,” Atkinson wrote in a letter dated July 22.

“The Executive branch also has significant discretion when determining whether to grant security clearances and whether a particular person may have access to information,” he added. 

However, Atkinson said he would be willing to begin the review “given the concerns raised” by the senators in March if it were directed by Trump.

The letter sent Wednesday was signed by Warner, Senate Judiciary Committee ranking member Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Senate Foreign Relations Committee ranking member Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and Senate Armed Services Committee ranking member Jack Reed (D-R.I.).

Separately, the House Oversight and Reform Committee has already launched an investigation into the security clearance process in the lower chamber. The committee, led by Chairman Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), released a memo in April revealing that a career White House official told the panel that 25 security clearance denials had been reversed during the Trump administration. 

The panel has asked for documents and testimony from the White House related to the investigation.

The White House has given the panel briefings and documents related to the process but refused to turn over materials on specific clearances, describing the requests as out of scope of Congress’s oversight authority.

–This report was updated at 1:03 p.m.