Ocasio-Cortez tears into Trump administration over security clearances

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., on Tuesday waded into the debate about the White House’s handling of security clearances a day after a whistleblower said that 25 were given to officials after they were initially denied access to top-secret information.

“Every day that we go on without getting to the bottom of this matter is a day that we are putting hundreds if not potentially thousands of Americans at risk,” Ocasio-Cortez said during a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Capitol Hill. “I mean, really, what is next, putting nuclear codes in Instagram DMs? This is ridiculous. We need to get to the bottom of this.”

The freshman lawmaker, who attained fame after defeating the No. 4 House Democrat in a primary upset, said subpoenas would have to be issued to find out what happened “because people in this administration are not cooperating.”

“Every day that there is an insecure line of communication that could be leaked, that could be hacked, that could be screenshotted, without proper channels, is a day that we are putting our national security at risk,” she added.

The whistleblower, White House security adviser Tricia Newbold, raised concerns about the high-level security clearances given to the officials, including three unnamed White House officials. Yahoo News reported Monday that President Trump’s daughter Ivanka and her husband, Jared Kushner, are among the officials involved. Read more

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