House Oversight Committee chairman Elijah Cummings (D-MD) struck an exasperated tone in his most letter to the White House Friday, accusing them of “stalling” and “equivocating” rather than providing the documents requested on security clearances.
“Since I sent my letter on January 23, I have been negotiating in good faith—and in private—to try to obtain the information the Committee needs to conduct its investigation,” Cummings wrote.
“However, over the past five weeks, the White House has stalled, equivocated, and failed to produce a single document or witness to the Committee,” he continued. “The White House has refused to commit to providing any information regarding the security clearance of any specific White House official, and the President has asserted no constitutional privilege to withhold this information from Congress.”
Cummings wrote that he was making the renewed request for the materials due to the New York Times story about President Donald Trump allegedly interfering in White House adviser Jared Kushner’s security clearance process.
“If true, these new reports raise grave questions about what derogatory information career officials obtained about Mr. Kushner to recommend denying him access to our nation’s most sensitive secrets, why President Trump concealed his role in overruling that recommendation, why General Kelly and Mr. McGahn both felt compelled to document these actions, and why your office is continuing to withhold key documents and witnesses from this Committee,” Cummings wrote, demanding that the records be produced immediately.
Read the full letter here:
