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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsReporter suing US government to learn how it vetted Trumps advisers for security clearances
On Jan. 31, Stein sued multiple agencies of the federal government demanding to know the process used to vet and approve 15 of Trumps picks. Stein argues, for example, that three of Trumps children and Tillerson, the new US secretary of state, have had extensive business ties to foreign nations that normally would raise clearance alarms.
He argues that Bannon, the White House senior strategist who will sit on the National Security Council, was criminally charged with domestic violence and has ties to white supremacist organizations, two strikes that would have made him an unlikely candidate for the highest levels of clearance. (Politico reported in August that Bannon, a former banker and Breitbart News executive, was charged with abuse by his now-ex-wife in 1996, and the police report noted red marks on her neck, but she didnt show up in court and the case was dropped.)
Based on statements made by intelligence officers in the press in May expressing doubt about the Trump teams suitability for clearance, Stein filed Freedom of Information Act requests asking about the clearance process its members were undergoing. The requests were denied. His lawsuit, reported by Courthouse News, seeks all records, including emails, about any steps taken to investigate or authorize (or discussions about potentially investigating or authorizing) [15 individuals] for access to classified information.
https://qz.com/904880/a-newsweek-reporter-is-suing-the-federal-government-to-learn-how-it-vetted-trumps-advisers-for-security-clearances/?mc_cid=78a4027d9c&mc_eid=0cf88d05aa
50 Shades Of Blue
(9,985 posts)niyad
(113,284 posts)NightWatcher
(39,343 posts)Yankee White is the code for transition member's background investigations. Back in 2001 a ton of YW's for gwb's team were pushed through with little review. I can assume that this year the contractor (or investigative arm of USOPM) was under pressure as well to get these done without hesitation or investigation. It is usually pitched by the transition team that everyone the new Prez wants WILL get their clearance rubber stamped or the contractor or background investigators will be removed in the upcoming administration.
I want to keep my job, so you get a clearance and you get a clearance and you get .....
I resigned from this community back before the war when I saw this in practice firsthand.
The reporter didn't get the paperwork because their might not be anything other than a cover sheet with an "Approved" stamp on it.