Back in February, numerous outlets reported that the only reason Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner received top-secret security clearance last May was because President Daddy demanded it, over the objections of intelligence officials, the White House’s top lawyer, and the chief of staff at the time, all of whom worried that the First Daughter and Son-in-Law’s business entanglements and lack of experience made them prime targets for manipulation by foreign powers. (This was particularly true of of Kushner, whose family recently received a bailout from his new friends in the Middle East.) And now, we’ve learned that Javanka weren’t the only ones who allegedly got the green light to access America’s most important intelligence, despite major red flags in their files. According to whistleblower testimony from a longtime security adviser, overturning clearance denials for individuals with major skeletons in their closets has become something of an official Trump administration policy!

Speaking to lawmakers last week, Tricia Newbold, an 18-year career employee currently serving in the White House Personnel Security Office, said she “would not be doing a service to myself, my country, or my children if I sat back knowing that the issues that we have could impact national security.” Newbold said that in 2018, she began keeping a list of White House employees whose security-clearance denials had been overruled, a list that grew to a mind-boggling 25 names, “including two current senior White House officials, as well as contractors and individuals.” During her interview with the Committee on Oversight and Reform, Newbold said the individuals had received denials due to a “wide range of serious disqualifying issues involving foreign influence, conflicts of interest, concerning personal conduct, financial problems, drug use, and criminal conduct.” While she understood that her and other career employees’ decisions could be overruled, she was initially concerned “that these decisions were occurring without proper analysis, documentation, or a full understanding and acceptance of the risks.” Newbold, who said she exhausted all avenues to resolve her concerns before coming to the Committee, accused Director of Personnel Security Carl Kline of: