Trump Team Hit With Subpoenas From House Oversight Committee

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While Attorney General William Barr takes his time redacting every truthful piece of information that could potentially harm Donald Trump ahead of the 2020 presidential election, the House Oversight Committee issued him a subpoena on Tuesday night.

Three of the subpoenas cover the plan to add a question about citizenship to the 2020 census, an unprecedented move awaiting review in the Supreme Court. The four subpoena was served to a former White House security official, Carl Kline, over questions about security clearances.

In addition to Kline and Barr, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General John Gore were also subpoenaed for testimony and documents requested by the committee.

A statement from the website of the House Oversight Committee said:

‘Today, the Committee on Oversight and Reform voted to authorize Chairman Elijah E. Cummings to issue a subpoena for testimony to President Trump’s former White House Personnel Security Director and three additional subpoenas relating to the Trump Administration’s secret efforts to add a citizenship question to the 2020 Census.  One Republican Committee Member voted in favor of the census-related subpoenas.’

A whistleblower named Tricia Newbold, a manager in the White House’s Personnel Security Office, reported that the Trump administration was not following proper guidelines on issuing security clearances, a scandal that has haunted Trump’s daughter, Ivanka, and son-in-law, Jared Kushner. The New York Times reports that Newbold said that 25 separate security clearances were waived through despite denials by officials over issues like drug use and criminal conduct.

Chairman Elijah Cummings (D-MD) said:

‘Today, the Oversight Committee voted to issue a subpoena for testimony from President Trump’s former Director of White House Personnel Security after being stonewalled over the past three months.  We have been informed of grave breaches of national security, but to date the White House has not produced a single piece of paper or a single witness requested by the Committee.  I hope this is the last subpoena we need to issue on this topic and that the White House agrees to cooperate, to schedule interviews for the next four officials we want to interview, and to turn over the documents we have been seeking for months.  I am heartened that at least some Republicans joined us in pledging their support for Tricia Newbold in order to protect her rights as a whistleblower who has come to Congress to highlight the grave abuses she has been witnessing over the past two years.’

While no Republican on the committee was willing to take a stand against Trump on the issue of security, Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI) did vote to approve the issuance of subpoenas related to the citizenship question on the 2020 census.

‘The Committee approved, by a vote of 23 to 14, a resolution to authorize Chairman Cummings to issue three subpoenas:  (1) to Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General John Gore for testimony; (2) to Attorney General William P. Barr for documents; and (3) to Secretary of Commerce Wilbur L. Ross, Jr. for documents.

‘All Democratic Members voted to authorize the subpoena, and they were joined by Republican Committee Member Justin Amash.’

For the news segment from CBS News, see video below:

Featured image screenshot via YouTube